Legacy Of The Dark Knight: Arkham Chronicles
by RockMusicFan80
Summary: A new challenge awaits the young Nightshroud/James Davis and Batman! What is happening in Gotham? Why are random people dying in the street? Why is city growing more restless? A new and more powerful evil perhaps? And most importantly, is line between good and evil really black and white? Sequel to Legacy of the Dark Knight: Dimension Crisis.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Trap

"Welcome back James!" Barbara Gordon threw her arms around the 20-year-old boy.  
"Haha thanks Barbara!" James Davis hugged back.  
It had only been a couple of hours since James was cured of his Solarium issues. After the intense battle with Brainiac and Luthor, James had been falling ill for weeks because of complications with his Solarium. It all came to a head when he fell into a coma for three days. But with the help of Pamela Isley and Dr. Leslie Tompkins of S.T.A.R Labs, they were able to nurse him back to health. They were now meeting at James's apartment to celebrate his return.  
"Well, it looks like things are finally settling down." Tim Drake said, happily. "Most of the criminals are pacified and now we can take a break!"  
James sat down on his bed. "Finally, and not a day too soon. My vacation is winding down and I really don't want to miss anymore time."

Pamela Isley sat down next to him. "You're right, and I'm gonna start teaching soon at your college."  
"Oh damn that's right!" His eyes widened. "You're gonna be one of my teachers!"  
Barbara and Tim's eyes widened. "Seriously!? How are you gonna deal with that!?"  
"We're going to have to keep our relationship a secret!" James replied. "If anyone were to find out about this, well it could be disastrous."  
"It shouldn't be so bad. Just treat each other like normal student-to-teacher contact and you should be fine." Barbara said. "The thing I want to know is…how did you get your job back?"  
"Well…the last biochemistry teacher resigned after apparently some recent incidents occurring at the college over the summer." Pam explained. "No one else ended up applying so I ended up being awarded the job."  
James burst out laughing. "That's the only way you were gonna get hired!"

"Oh shut it." Pam nudged him in the ribs before Barbara interrupted.  
"By the way, I've been doing a little research into our next semester, and there is an internship this fall!"  
"Really?" James asked. "Do tell."  
"The internship is to be able to work for a member of the city council, a state senator or a real Congressman and to be exposed to the politics of the system." She explained, taking out a brochure and handing it to him.  
"Hmm…that sounds really in—wait, are you going for your doctorate in library studies?" He wondered, confused.  
"I am. But have you noticed when we're out there fighting crime all the poor people on the street, and the unbalanced way our government has become?" She asked.

James stopped for a moment and thought back to all the fights he had and everything he had seen.  
" _She's right James…"_ Alcor said. _"I'm guessing it's something that even Bruce himself had figured out before he became Batman. Think about it, long ago Bruce's father Thomas nearly bankrupted his company trying to help the poor."  
_ " _Wow, that's quite a dedicated man. Despite him having the chance to live the rich and luxurious life, he chose to live it helping the less fortunate. Not many people can say they've done anything similar."_ James replied.  
"I have noticed. Really that's part of why I'm doing Political Science. I want to get involved in the system. I want to change it, because politics affects everyone."  
She nodded. "So you're gonna take the internship?"  
He studied the brochure for a moment.  
"A paid internship, even better!" James grinned, excited. "Well I think this is a no-brainer! Let's do it!"  
Barbara held her hand out, and he hi-fived her.  
"Let's change the system!" She laughed.  
"Oh boy…" James smiled back.

* * *

"Get that filthy degenerate out of here!" Warden Quincy Sharp ordered.

The Joker was placed on a stretcher and cuffed to it on his shoulders, waist, and legs. With Arkham security tightly guarding him, they started rolling the crazed clown through intensive treatment.  
"Warden, something's not right." Batman said. "I'm going with him."  
He gave him a curt nod. "Go on."  
As he walked behind the security guards, he looked around and saw criminals being moved to cells at gunpoint.  
"Is Commissioner Gordon here?" He asked one of them.

"Yes he is, he got here just before you did." One guard replied. "He's waiting for you up ahead."  
"Hey Sharpie! You get my good side? Ah but they're all good aren't they?" Joker quipped.  
"I want him completely secured away this time!" Warden Sharp ordered.  
"Look at all this security…how is someone supposed to break out? Ha!" He grinned.  
As the troupe moved forward, they soon started passing by multiple TV screens that showed Warden Sharp's intro video.  
"Oooh it's my favorite show! 'I'm Warden Idiot, you'll never escape!" Joker laughed out loud.  
" _I don't like this one bit…"_ Batman thought. _"It's like he wanted me to not only arrest him, but to have him thrown back into the asylum…why?"  
_ He soon started to hear some of the inmates chanting Joker's name.  
"Joker! Joker!" They chanted.

"Shut it!" one Arkham guard demanded.

They soon stopped at an elevator that was rising in front of them. Just then the doors opened and Killer Croc emerged in chains and a shock collar.

 **(A/N For the record, because my Thanksgiving special sort of made him harmless and an idiot, that'll change from here on because of where this story is going. Just think of him as the Arkham series' Killer Croc from here on.)**

"Croc old boy! Is that you?" Joker called excitedly.  
Croc sniffed the air, then locked eyes on Batman.  
"I have your scent, Batman." He declared. "I will hunt you down!"  
At that moment, the electric collar went off, causing him to yell out in pain.  
"A toy collar will not be enough to stop me!" He yelled. "I will tear you apart!"  
Croc then forced himself to walk to another hallway and out of sight.  
They soon went into the elevator with the doors shutting behind them. As the elevator lurched downward, Joker was still ranting.  
"Weee! A perfect night for a party!" He announced.

"Not where you're going." Batman replied sternly.

"Haha, the night is young Bats. I still have a trick or two up my sleeve!" He grinned. "I mean isn't it odd, that a fire at Blackgate caused hundreds of my crew to be moved here? Hehe…"  
"I thought I told you to stay quiet!" Frank Boles yelled out.  
"Tell me something, you never let me catch you this easily. What are you really after?" Batman asked.  
"Oh nothing much! Just have hundreds of people meeting the ends of their meaningless lives. All thanks to you and a book of matches. Was that the answer you wanted?"

Suddenly, the lights in the elevator started flickering. Then the lights went out completely, enabling Joker to laugh maniacally.  
"What's going on!?" One guard yelled.  
"Someone get a light on him!" Another one shouted.  
Acting fast, Batman grabbed the Joker's throat just as the lights came on again.  
"You're not going anywhere!" He said, angrily.  
"What's…wrong?" the clown coughed. "Don't…trust me?"  
Soon the elevator stopped and the doors opened. The entourage moved out of it and near the cells.  
Batman saw Commissioner Gordon near a desk holding a clipboard when he caught sight of the Dark Knight.

"Long night Jim?"  
"Ha. Joker invades city hall and holds the Mayor hostage. Leaving me to juggle the swat teams, the media, and you. Yeah it's been a long night."  
Suddenly, the moment Joker and his caretaker passed the forcefield; he spun around, kicked him to the ground and wrung his neck all the while unlocking his handcuffs.  
"!" Batman quickly started smashing the glass leading to the containment area.  
"Bahahaha! Bat in a trap, as always." Joker grinned, and ran off. "Harley, do you have the system ready?"

In the control room, Harley Quinn was sitting on a chair with her legs up on the control panel.  
"It's ready sweetie! Come on in!" She pushed a button, and the other forcefield deactivated.

Batman quickly smashed through the glass and landed in the middle of the containment area surrounded by prisoners. In a flurry of movement, he had kicked the prisoner in front of him then did a tornado kick to the two prisoners behind him. Next he grabbed one of the prisoners and threw him into the remaining prisoner standing, knocking them all out.  
"Aww, need a little help there Bats'?" Joker's voice sounded. "Well come and find me!"  
The forcefield ahead of him was deactivated. Batman quickly bolted through the containment facility in search for the mad clown.

" _This isn't a simple escape attempt…_ " He thought. _"Joker's been planning this."  
_

* * *

Suddenly, James's Ari1 started beeping. He took it out and looked at the headline:

 **MASS TAKEOVER AT ARKHAM ASYLUM**

"What the hell!?" Barbara quickly switched on the TV.  
"This is Jack Ryder reporting high above Arkham Asylum!" The man with glasses said. "We just learned that the Joker has escaped custody and his goons have now taken over the prison!"  
Just then, Barbara's cellphone started ringing. She quickly picked it up and excused herself outside.  
"Bruce! We heard everything! Is it true? Did the Joker break out?"  
"Unfortunately he has." Batman responded. "Listen, I need your help. I—"  
"I'll be right over." Barbara responded quickly. "I'm going to—"  
"No. I don't need your help here." He interrupted. "I need you to run a cross check of a Doctor Penelope Young. With what I've found here she seems to have some sort of connection with the Joker."

She nodded. "Be careful Bruce."  
The young girl hung up her phone and bolted back inside.  
"Guys I gotta go." Barbara said. "I'm going to be on my computer helping him out."  
James nodded. "I'm going to the asylum to help—"  
"James wait." Alcor spoke so everyone could hear.  
"Gah!" Tim jerked back, surprised. "Who was that?"  
"Sorry that was Alcor." He answered. "Go ahead what's wrong?"  
"I've been searching the news reports about the recent incidents at Gotham University, and there have been strange incidents involving experiments with medications." Alcor explained. "Students have been falling sick from them. I think Batman can handle himself. I highly suggest we investigate these incidents."

James nodded. "Alright then. Since I'm heading back to the campus to start classes, it'll be a perfect opportunity to start looking for clues."  
"Nightwing and I can handle the heat here in Gotham if need be." Tim nodded.

"Good god." Pam shook her head. "This is gonna be one hell of a week."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Back To School, Back to Arkham

 _Three days later…_

Batman bolted through the hallways of the Asylum, taking out Joker's followers on the way when he suddenly stopped in front of an empty cell window. He saw a slab of concrete with a beetle on it in a makeshift graveyard outside. Deciding to scan it, he downloaded an audio recording from it.  
" _ **I am the spirit of Amadeus Arkham."**_ The voice spoke **.** _ **"Through my actions, I have saved this cursed city, though my own curse is to forever remain in the shadows. My story is carved into the very soul of Arkham and will only be revealed to those dedicated enough to discover it."  
**_ " _Amadeus Arkham?"_ Batman wondered. _"The man who founded the asylum? How long has this slab been here? By the looks of it there must be more nearby…"  
_ He quickly raced outside of the asylum and was immediately forced to jump behind cover.  
Looking up, he could see snipers on top of the towers. He counted four in total.  
" _Simple."_ The Dark Knight thought.

* * *

"Welcome to Biochemistry 351!" Pamela Isley greeted her new class. "Now you should have all received your syllabi by email. If not I have some extra copies on my front desk that I can pass out if need be."  
James sat in the back of the class extremely tense. He didn't realize how strange the class felt until he sat down.  
" _God…"_ He thought. _"This feels uncanny…"  
_ " _I understand your issue, but I'm sure you'll get used to it."_ Alcor said. _"It is the first day of the semester."  
_ " _True."  
_ "We will start with the structures and functions of biological macromolecules…"  
" _Although it's scary on how she sounds just like a real teacher."_ James thought.  
" _Well James, she IS a real teacher."  
_ " _Damn you're right."  
_ An hour and a half later after James walked out of the classroom, another class was already filing in giving him no time to talk to her.  
He sighed. "So far nothing unusual."  
As the young student walked through the halls to his next class, he suddenly stopped and looked at a bulletin board in front of him. Out of the many paper ads on the board, one white one caught his attention:

 **The Biggest Party of the Semester is Already Around The Corner! No one is left alone! A girl and boy for every one of you!**

"The hell?" James muttered. "Sounds like a giant orgy party."  
" _A what?"_ Alcor asked.  
" _Err…I think you should look this one up."  
_ "… _Good lord."  
_ " _Yep."  
_ After James's second class ended, he made his way to one of the lounges on the Arts & Sciences building. He saw down on a chair with his backpack and took out his Ari1.  
" _Let's see if we can eavesdrop on some people…"_

He put his headphones on and booted the Ari1 to life. Immediately he started tracking the conversations.  
" _Did you hear about the crap going on in Arkham? Good god is it scary."  
_ " _I know! I mean I'm sure the Batman can handle himself but…"  
_ " _I don't know man this looks like one hell of a takeover."  
_ "Nope, nothing." James muttered then switched to another group.

* * *

 _In an unknown location_

A man in a suit was struggling to escape his bondage. He jerked around trying to remove the rope that tied his hands and his legs together. The man looked around the dimly lit room desperately looking for something to free himself with.  
Just then, a door opened and a dark figure stepped into the room. The figure closed the door behind him and shut the dim light off, flooding the room with darkness.  
The man shook in fear. "W-What do you want with me!?"  
"Tell me." The figure spoke. "Do you know why you're here?"  
"No! I don't!" The man cried out desperately.  
The figure procured a manila envelope and opened it.

"Let's see here…" The figure continued. "Name: John Stevenson; owner of the Lifeline Insurance company. Worth an estimated $24 billion and made money by jacking up interest rates for working families and running smaller business venues out of the market. Lobbied Congress and the state congress to kill the Family Needs For Benefits Act and threatened half the state house of representatives. Apparent connections to the mob and ally to Theodore Wilson, one of the richest preachers on the planet; my my Mr. Stevenson, you've run up quite a record here…"

"Please don't hurt me!" Stevenson whimpered. "I'll pay you anything you want!"

The figure sighed. "And that's the big problem with all of you big rich captains of industries. You all think that you can write a big check and then all your problems will go away. Unfortunately that is not the case here."  
Just then, a door behind him opened, and he gasped loudly at the sight of three large black panthers slowly crawling into the room.  
"You see Mr. Stevenson," The figure said finally. "You should've let the government arrest you and put you in prison. It would've done you a world of good. But no, you instead paid a fine and refused to admit to any wrongdoing. And now you will suffer."  
The figure raised his hand and snapped his fingers. John Stevenson screamed loudly as the panthers attacked and ripped his body to shreds. Blood splattered everywhere, as the former rich owner's skin was torn open. The screaming eventually stopped when one of the panthers ripped his throat out.

"Now now my children you know what I use this room for." The figure scolded. "Please don't dirty my floor."  
The three panthers looked at him for a moment before dragging the remains into the room where they emerged. The figure closed the door and sat down on a chair.  
The figure took out a large list and pen. On the top of it he crossed out the name 'John Stevenson.'  
"Deed done." The figure chuckled. "Now for Eugene Fredrickson."

* * *

" _Ah! Got something!"_ James thought.  
"So has it worked then?" A boy asked.  
"No." Another boy replied. "In fact I've been feeling sicker every day. I knew it was too good to be true…"  
Immediately, James looked and saw two boys conversing in a corner. One boy was tall; light skinned and blond while the other was shorter, light skinned and dark hair.  
He scanned the blond boy and found something interesting.  
" _That boy has Chlamydia…"_ Alcor said. _"One of many STDs rumored to be rampaging through the campus. However his disease looks a bit strange. There seems to be some sort of virus attacking his white blood cells. It's attacking the disease but also destroying his good cells."  
_ " _The virus looks like it was engineered."_ James added. _"Someone's been experimenting with STDs…"  
_ " _Whoever it may be, we'll need to find him or her."_ Alcor said.  
" _Yep, and I think I know just where to look…"_

Batman continued through the courtyard, defeating more and more thugs before stumbling upon Quincy Sharp's office. He saw some smoke billowing out of an open safe. In front of the safe was the charred body of Dr. Penelope Young.  
" _Damn…"_ He cursed. " _Dr. Young must've tried to retrieve something out of the safe but the Joker had rigged it…"  
_ "Barbara, tell me more about Dr. Young's history here at the Asylum."  
"Okay." Her voice sounded. "It seems like she was experimenting with a formula that bears a resemblance to Bane's Venom drug. However this concoction is much more potent than Bane's; you've seen the juiced up thugs around the asylum which means Joker is using this stuff now."  
"Not good, and it looks like he's planning to distribute it to more and more thugs when he perfects the formula." Batman replied.  
"It's looking more and more like he's building an army; an army of mutant criminals." Barbara suggested. "This isn't good Bruce, you gotta catch him before he finishes with the titan."  
"On it." Batman hung up. He turned around to leave the Warden's office when he suddenly spotted something strange about the far wall.  
" _What's this?"_ He thought. _"This wall is wooden. Normally that would be a given considering the age of the Asylum. But one part of the wall appears newer than the other…"_

Pondering this for a moment, he took out his explosive gel. He sprayed the wall and stood back.

BOOM.

The wall collapsed, revealing a hidden room. Alertly, he slowly entered the space and saw an office in front of him. He looked and saw a computer with data running at a furious rate on the monitor.  
The Dark Knight then spotted a blueprint on the right side of the wall. Inspecting it, he saw a top-down schematic of Arkham Island and Gotham City. However he also noticed someone had circled a piece of Gotham and drawn a bridge from that section to the island.  
" _Connecting Arkham Island with Gotham City?"_ Batman wondered. _"Is this Quincy Sharp's plan? Move all the inmates to the mainland? Why?"_

Whatever this idea was meant to do, Batman thought, it did not sound good.

* * *

"Eugene Fredrickson." The figure spoke.  
The man cowered at the corner of the room, shaking in fear.  
"Let's see here…" The figure pulled out another folder. "Ah! Eugene Fredrickson: Spokesman for the World Soccer Association and also its Vice-President. Has served 20 years of service to the organization and operated many charities…looking good so far Eugene."  
The Vice-President started to calm down. "What do you want?"  
The figure ignored him. "Hmm…Charities, monitoring soccer games, and…oh dear…"

"W-what!?" Eugene protested.

"Caught rigging multiple World Cup qualification rounds in 2010 and 2006, and was allegedly responsible for rigging the World Cup 2022 voting for Kasnia. The man was also accused for stealing billions of dollars from poor countries that hosted the event including Brazil, South Africa, Mexico—"  
"Please stop!" Eugene interrupted. "I did not do any of that!"  
The figure stopped. "How amusing. Even though you have blatantly committed many crimes you still claim innocence. I am no fool Eugene Fredrickson, and I have proof that you are the cause."  
The figure pressed a button next to them and a panel opened up revealing a screen behind it.  
The screen blared to life and Eugene saw himself in a board meeting with the President of WSA.

He gasped. "H-how did you—"

"I know everything." The figure responded. "You also should not assume that every room you and your colleagues go in would be secure."  
"Let's have a listen shall we?" The figure turned to the screen.  
Eugene looked at the figure in front of him. He could see it was a person, but the light of the TV screen did not illuminate them. For some reason, he could not tell whether the person in front of him was male or female. They seemed to be covered by some sort of shadow…  
"Congratulations on a successful World Cup this year everyone!" President Alan Branch raised his glass while motioning everyone else to do the same.  
The other board members (Eugene included) raised their glasses.  
"To a profitable…er…prosperous game!" President Branch toasted.

Everyone laughed and toasted.  
While everyone was talking amongst himself or herself, Eugene could see himself standing next to the President and talking quietly with him.  
"Oh that will not do. Some volume then?" The figure raised the volume and now their conversation could be heard.  
"So how much did we make from the Cup in South Africa?" Eugene asked.  
"$3.65 billion." President Branch grinned.  
He nearly screamed out. " _3.65_ BILLION!?"  
The President's grin widened, "Oh yes. And let's just say the country itself didn't make out with the majority. Bah semantics, they got their economy going and that's that."  
"Unbelievable…" Eugene sighed.  
"Look, let the country develop on its own." President Branch continued. "Those countries have never made money, and I am not about to let them have it easy. Besides, they'll probably squander most of it just trying to stay stable."  
"And as for your vote in the 2022 Cup, well I think that result is assured." He nodded. "Kasnia has boomed and it looks like the perfect area to start our plans."

Eugene nodded, and the TV screen shut off.  
In the present, Eugene cringed as the figure turned back to him.  
"Plans?" It said. "How curious. And what is your plan after the World Cup in Kasnia?"  
"P-Please! W-we just thought—"  
"That having these countries host the World Cup were too bothersome for you? The figure interrupted. "That maybe if your schemes continued it might breed an investigation? Or maybe the fact that 'human rights' aren't in your vocabulary?"  
"Th-that's n-not—"  
Suddenly, the figure burst out laughing. Their maniacal laugh echoed throughout the hallways and back into the room.

"That's why people like you amuse me." The figure chuckled. "You lie, cheat, extort, and steal, yet proclaim innocence when it is time to take responsibility. Eugene Fredrickson, you just made my list longer."  
"H-huh!?" Before Eugene could react, the figure had placed its hands on its head. The Vice-President screamed loudly and suddenly went silent. The figure removed his hands, and Eugene was now a hunk of flesh neither thinking nor talking.  
"Ahh…" The figure sighed. "So that's your plan. Looks like I was right after all. Oh well, more to do..."  
The figure took out his list, crossed out Eugene Fredrickson from his list and started writing a few more names.

"Soon…" It spoke. "The thieves will burn and the victims will learn that the world will turn and give them for what they yearn."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Undercover

 _Three Days Later…  
_ It was 10:30 p.m. as James walked into the Leland Commons building and presented his invitation. Some unfortunate sap was sleeping through the night not realizing his invitation was stolen, but he would've probably been hung over and lacking in memory of the previous night's events anyway.  
" _Good thing Solarium doesn't leave residue."_ James thought.  
" _Indeed, or we would be in quite a quandary."_ Alcor replied.  
As he walked into the large apartments on the campus, he could see the party was already going strong. Students were all over the place talking, drinking and some dancing.  
" _What are we looking for?"_ Alcor asked.  
" _Someone who's garnering a lot of attention besides the host."_ James replied. _"Or maybe it is the host."_

He walked over to the cooler and grabbed a beer.  
" _Hey, my birthday's in a month."_ James thought. _"Plus I've drank before."  
_ " _You have?"_ Alcor asked.  
" _In the Caribbean."_ He replied. _"My family and I went on vacation to Punta Cana not too long ago. It was one of the few times we were together. Although…for some reason that memory's a little hazy."  
_ " _How hazy?"  
_ " _Well for some reason I have a lot of trouble remembering what we did then. Plus I seem to recall that there were four of us. But that's impossible because I'm an only child and we've never had any other family come with us. So who's that fourth person?"  
_ Before Alcor could answer, they suddenly picked up sounds coming from one of the other rooms.  
" _What is that?"_ Alcor asked.  
" _Dunno, it's really loud in here so it's hard to listen."_ James said. _"Let's see if we can find out…"_

He looked around and saw the apartment had a rather large kitchen on the other side of the room. Also he could see two hallways; one on his left and right. Both hallways seem to lead to multiple rooms. By the looks of it, some of the doors were already open.  
He went to the empty kitchen and closed his eyes. He used his Solarium to track the sounds through the walls. After a few misses, he suddenly heard the sounds again.  
It was the sound of moaning.  
" _Ah shit…"_ James thought, annoyed. _"I'm pretty sure I know what that is."  
_ " _As do I…"_ Alcor responded.  
" _Wait…maybe that's the party host? I saw on the invitation his name was Joe Daniels."  
_ " _We'll unfortunately have to find out."  
_ Sighing, he left the kitchen and took a sip of his beer. He then went into the left hallway, but just then he noticed that a bathroom was across the room!  
" _Nice! We're in luck!"_ James exclaimed. _"We'll hide in the bathroom and listen in from there."  
_ " _Good lord…"_ Alcor quipped.

James quickly walked into the bathroom, closed the door and locked it. He then touched the wall and his Solarium spread into the air vent on the ceiling and into the room across. He immediately started to hear two voices moaning.  
"Ah…god!" A girl's voice cried out.  
"Augh! Argh!" A boy's voice responded.  
" _Can we scan the boy's DNA?"_ James asked.  
" _Yes! We can."_ Alcor answered. _"Scanning now."  
_ A minute later, Alcor spoke again:  
" _The boy is indeed Joe Daniels, and the girl is Leslie Fredrickson. Joe is apparently clean, but Leslie is infected with HIV…"  
_ " _Good lord…"_ James thought, surprised. _"That's horrible! So that means…wait…do you think he already knows?"_

" _I was just pondering that myself actually."_ Alcor agreed. _"Maybe this is how he's been experimenting with STDs; catching it and trying to find a remedy. That's really risky. The thing I don't understand is that what drove him to do this? Scientists haven't really been able to find a stable cure for these diseases."  
_ " _That makes me think maybe he found something."_ James pondered. _"Maybe he had these STDs and managed to actually flush them out? Perhaps with what happened to him he tried to actually cure it with everyone else?"  
_ " _If that is true, maybe we could help him."_ Alcor suggested. _"If your Solarium was used to heal your wounds inside and out, maybe it could work."  
_

 _Meanwhile…  
_

Barbara Gordon typed in earnest at the Batcave, keeping up with the Dark Knight in Arkham. She could see that he was making progress in tracking down the Joker, but she was still worried for Bruce's welfare.  
" _Oh Bruce…be safe."_ She thought as she typed.  
Just then the young girl received an email.  
" _Later…"_ Barbara thought as she minimized the window.  
"Bruce!" She spoke. "I have triangulated the location of the Joker's lab! It's in the Botanical Gardens. It's underneath the main areas so you'll need to access the air vents."  
"Understood. Thanks Barbara." Bruce's voice sounded through.  
A few minutes later, James exited the bathroom and returned to the kitchen. He took out his Ari1 and pretended to be taking a phone call when the bedroom door opened up. He could see Joe and the girl Leslie talking for a few moments then they both set off for the main room.

Before James could follow, Alcor suddenly gasped.  
" _What is it Alcor?"  
_ " _James…"_ He responded. _"I just found disturbing news. Leslie's father Eugene was found dead today in the Financial District of New Haven."  
_ " _WHAT!?"_ James exclaimed. _"Who else knows about this!?"  
_ " _Everyone is about to find out."_ Alcor said grimly. _"Leslie's father Eugene Fredrickson was Vice President of the World Soccer Federation. He was very wealthy and held a lot of power on the board of directors. This is about to become international news any moment."  
_ " _Shit."_ He cursed under his breath. _"That means we'll have to work fast. If Joe and Leslie are in some form of intimate relationship, we'll lose any potential privacy with them due to the press. It's likely they're already searching for Leslie and she has no idea."  
_ " _Regardless,"_ Alcor continued. _"Let's question Joe right now while we still can."_

Nodding, James exited the kitchen and started to search for Joe. He immediately spotted him laughing with a few boys on the couch.  
"Hey Joe, can I talk to you for a second?" He walked up to them.  
"Me? Sure." The young boy nodded. He stood up and followed James to the kitchen.  
"Look Joe." James started. "I know what you've been doing."  
The boy suddenly grew nervous. "Doing what?"  
"Have you been experimenting with STDs?" He asked bluntly.  
"W-what!?" Joe responded shakily. "Why would you think—?"  
"It's okay." James assured him. "I'm not going to tell anybody. In fact, I want to help you."

Joe shook his head in confusion. "Wait what? You want to help _me?_ "  
James nodded. "Are you currently infected with anything right now?"  
He looked down at his body. "I am about to. I just went and played house with my girlfriend Leslie. She has HIV, and I promised that I would cure it from her body."  
"That's a pretty steep promise." James said sternly. "What makes you think you can cure it?"  
"Well I actually did manage to cure cases of Chlamydia and Hepatitis last semester!" Joe insisted.  
James's eyes widened. "You actually managed to cure them!?"  
"Yeah!" He nodded. "I've been double majoring in Biochemistry plus Anatomy and Physiology. I've done a lot of research and I managed to cure a case of Chlamydia."  
"Unbelievable." James said. "Who did you cure?"  
"Myself." Joe responded.  
He gasped. "Yourself? You managed to succeed where so many other scientists failed? That's incredible!"

" _I don't believe him."  
_ " _Neither do I. I mean he probably did clean himself up, but I have a feeling he used 'otherworldly' means. Maybe he's a meta human?"  
_ " _Already looking into it."_ Alcor answered.  
"It was uncanny really." Joe admitted. "While I was doing research the information seemed to be spinning in my head at an incredible rate. I was cycling through case studies, articles, journals, databases you name it. I guess I was so into my work I didn't realize how much I had done."  
" _Oh definitely meta-human."_ James thought.  
" _Indeed, and it seems to be abnormally high IQ."_ Alcor confirmed. _"And it appears to be more than double the average!"  
_ "Hmm…" James folded his arms and stared intently at Joe.  
"What?" He asked.  
"24 times 113." James asked.  
"2712." Joe answered immediately.  
"1556 divided by 144."  
"10.8056."  
"Convert that to a fraction."  
"389/36."  
"Explain String Theory."

"A model of fundamental physics whose building blocks are one-dimensional extended objects rather than the zero-dimensional points that are the basis of the Standard Model of particle physics."  
James nodded in approval. "I'm impressed. That is definitely uncanny."  
Joe chuckled. "Thanks I guess."  
"Actually." He continued. "Perhaps it's a superpower."  
"A superpower?"  
"Well think about it." James suggested. We got Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash, and all these different types of heroes or villains. Maybe you're becoming one of them."  
"Good lord I hope not." Joe shook his head. "While being a hero would be cool, I just wanna stick to my academics and hopefully make the world a better place through that sense."  
"How noble of you." James said.  
"Thanks!"

"So anyway." He said. "I said I'd help you, and I will. I've noticed that even though you've managed to cure your own STD, you've had trouble curing others."  
Joe dropped his head. "I know, and some students actually got sicker from my "cures." I mean that's essentially what this party is for. I want to stop the spread of STDs that's been plaguing the school. I'm a junior now so I don't have too much time left before I graduate."  
"Once again, how noble." James nodded. "But then again with a brain like yours you could graduate this year."  
Joe chuckled again. "You flatter me, but this isn't about me. I noticed that there's been a lack of…moods on the campus lately if you know what I mean."  
"You mean no one's been doing it with others as much anymore?" James wondered.  
"Exactly." Joe nodded. "Stopping the spread of STDs was one part of my goal, but I also want to restore the hot atmosphere that used to be present here!"  
James burst out laughing. "Now that makes more sense!"  
Joe chuckled too. "Well yeah, I guess clearing the air is another goal of mine."

"Well then." James gave him a nod. "I could probably help you now."  
"Now?" Joe scratched his head. "How?"  
"To start off," James responded. "It just so happens that I've been doing some research of my own. I've been mixing some chemical compounds with the latest medications plus studying the chemical compositions of current diseases and after a few months I may have actually found a breakthrough."  
"Really!?" Joe gasped. "That's unbelievable! So you've actually been doing the research too?"  
"Indeed I have." He nodded. "And trust me I may have finally caught a break with what you've been doing."  
"Awesome!" Joe finally smiled. "Can't wait to get started! Oh and I gotta tell you something."  
"Hmm? What is it?"  
"I believe that some of these students around the campus may actually have superpowers too."  
"No…" James wondered. "What makes you think that?"

"Well…" Joe started. "I've started to see some kids in the hallways exhibiting strange behaviors. One scrawny kid was cornered by a bunch of guys from a fraternity and the kid beat the hell out of them! And he moved so fast while doing it! There's also another girl who comes to school everyday with perfect hair, perfect teeth, perfect skin, everything! And she insists that she doesn't use any supplements. Finally I saw a basketball match with our campus team and one short kid made a huge leap and dunked the ball right in! I mean it may just seem like they have great skills, but they look somewhat inhuman!"  
" _Huh…"_ James thought. _"Maybe he's right. Perhaps some of these kids are meta-humans…"  
_ " _If that is true, then we may have a bigger problem on our hands."_ Alcor said worriedly.  
" _Why?"  
_ " _Because one of these kids is bound to be dangerous. Someone is definitely going to use their newfound powers for malicious purposes. Keep your guard up James, for it looks like the fighting isn't limited to the city streets anymore. Now it may be in your own classroom."_

" _Jeez…"_ James thought back. _"This is going to be one hell of a semester."_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Crosshairs

Batman charged through the botanical gardens, taking out every thug he saw, when he suddenly heard a voice.  
"Oh dear Batman." The man spoke. "Chasing the wind of the leaves through a jungle that wants you dead. I bet you're wondering who I am. Placed in a garden-filled heaven with all my precious plants. Do I ring a bell?"  
" _The only villain I know who spoke like that was Poison Ivy…"_ Batman thought. _"But she's not in Arkham anymore…. So who could this new person be?"|  
_ "Barbara, check Pamela Isley's history." He radioed in. "This new villain we're dealing with probably has a connection with her past. The Arkham records show nothing of him."  
"I'm on it." Barbara responded typing away. "So far nothing…wait. I found something. Before moving to Gotham she had lived in Washington State for a while. She was under the tutelage of one "Jason Woodrue," a scientist who bred dangerous drugs and sold them to the highest bidder. At the same time hew as constantly abusing Isley day in and day out and eventually tried to kill her."

"He must've been the one that made her the supervillain she was." Batman said.  
"Exactly." Barbara responded. "But after her transformation into Poison Ivy, Dr. Woodrue disappeared for many years. Eventually he would try to become a big supervillain like those here already, but was always arrested by police. However one day he apparently got involved into a similar accident as Pam and mutated."  
"That settles it." He spoke. "Dr. Woodrue must've worked with or crossed paths with the Joker sometime, and since Isley is no longer Poison Ivy, he was the next best thing."  
"When she finds out that Woodure is in Arkham, she'll either laugh, or become really pissed."  
"Regardless, I'm going to stop Woodrue now and retrieve the materials we need."  
After speaking with Leslie Fredrickson and gaining Joe Daniels's contact information, James quickly left the party. He ran behind an alleyway and transformed into Nightshroud and flew into the night.

" _By god…"_ He thought. _"This is been a strange day, I feel so bad for Leslie…"  
_ " _You and me both."_ Alcor replied. _"Her parents are divorced, but she was always closest to her father according to news reports. We need to at least figure out a way to cure her HIV."  
_ " _And for that, I know just the person."  
_ "HIV?" Pamela Isley scoffed. "Child's play. I've already cured that years ago."  
"Hey now, no need to patronize." James insisted. "The human population has not found a cure, so this could do a load of good."  
"Oh alright then." She nodded. "This Joe kid you're telling me about seems a bit odd, but brave on taking these STDs by himself."  
James and Pam were conversing in Pamela's old greenhouse. She herself had said that she would eventually move out of there, but hadn't been able to find a place.  
"Say…" Pam turned to look at him. "Why don't I just stay with you? You may have an apartment but hey it's not bad."  
James clammed up. "I-I'm a bit of a slob."  
"Who else isn't at your age?" She folded her arms. "I won't be your maid, but I can help you out."

"Well—"

Suddenly, James's Ari1 beeped. As he accessed the screen, Alcor's voice sounded.  
" _James."_ He started. _"There was another murder prior to Eugene's. John Stevenson was murdered first. And he's had a suspicious background similar to Eugene's which was corruption, money laundering and bribery."  
_ " _Back to back days?"_ He asked.  
" _Yes."_ Alcor replied. _"It appears John was murdered two days ago, while Eugene was murdered yesterday. I don't like it James. It appears someone is taking the law into their own hands and murdering them."  
_ " _If the trend continues…"  
_ " _Then there's going to be another murder today."_ Alcor finished.

"Shit, we gotta find them!" James turned to Pam. "You win. Stay with me."  
"Well then!" Pam grinned. "That was easier than I thought. I'll start the move immediately! Something wrong?"  
"Murders." He replied darkly. "One yesterday and another two days ago. That means someone is likely going to be murdered tonight."  
"God damn…" Pam muttered. "You better get going. I'll help you out as Mysteria if need-be.  
"Mysteria?" James looked at her confused.  
"Yeah "Masteria" wasn't working for me." Pam shrugged.  
James/Nightshroud flew high over Gotham City, trying to pinpoint any sign of abduction.  
" _This is bad…"_ He thought. _"These two figures were killed here in Gotham, which means they're likely already in their clutches…"  
_ " _We'll find them."_ Alcor assured him.  
" _I sure hope so…"  
_

* * *

The dark figure watched on their screen as Nightshroud flew from building to building.  
"Ah, so he knows now doesn't he?" The figure muttered. "Well that won't matter. He'll never find me."  
Behind the figure, a woman struggled trying to break free of her bounds on the chair she was sitting in.  
"Why are you doing this!?" She protested.  
"Because." The figure turned to look at her. "Some people don't deserve a trial. Some people don't deserve the rule of law. Some people don't deserve a second chance. And some people don't deserve the power they are given."  
"Emily Correia, nice of you to join me tonight."

* * *

Batman crashed through the final door into the botanical gardens and looked up. He saw three giant mutant flowers staring down at him, with a man sitting on the middle one.  
"Welcome Batman." Dr. Woodrue grinned. "It's always nice to have guests. So I'm guessing you'll need my spores to cure this Titan? Unfortunately I am not in a mood to give you anything. So therefore—"  
Just then a batarang sliced through the vines that was holding him up. Yelling, he fell off the middle plant, but the mutant flower quickly caught him.  
"Rude." He shook his head.  
"You won't like this then." Batman held up a detonator.  
"Huh?" Dr. Woodrue looked, and saw explosive gel sprayed all over his plants.  
"NO! STOP!" He demanded. "You will—"  
"Back off." Batman threatened. "I'm taking the spore, or all of your plants die."  
Woodrue gritted his teeth. "Fine. The left plant will give you the spore sample."  
As he spoke, the mutant flower spat out some yellow seeds. Batman quickly picked them up and stored them in his belt.

"Good." He turned and made for the exit.

Growling, Woodrue raised a hand and pointed at the Dark Knight's back. The plants on both of his sides roared and bounded at him but before they could reach him, he suddenly turned around and pressed the detonator.  
"DAMN IT! NOOOOO!" The three plants exploded, sending Woodrue screaming into the small lake underneath.  
"As always." He muttered as he shut the door behind him.  
 _  
Three Days Later_

"How is she feeling?" James asked Joe Daniels.  
"Not well." He said somberly. "Leslie was very close to her father ever since the divorce. Even though she knew about the corruption he was involved in, she still loved him."  
James and Joe were putting the finishing touches on their HIV treatment in Joe's apartment after two days.  
He sighed. "I'm sorry. Maybe we should do this some other time. I mean—"  
"No wait." Joe insisted. "We have the cure done! We can't just delay it now!"  
After getting some tutoring from Pam, James and Alcor were finally able to brew up a cure thanks to help from Joe. Soon they had a light purple liquid that sloshed around in a test tube ready to be used.  
"But will she be in any mood to try the treatment out?" James asked.

"I don't know, but I'm sure she does not want her HIV to develop any further and for it to start eating away at her body now. Let's do this."

Nodding, they stored the purple liquid in a sealed vial and packed it away in a briefcase that James held. The duo then set off for Leslie's apartment.  
"You know-"  
"I know what you're thinking." Joe interrupted. "If this cure works, why not distribute it?"  
"...yeah."  
"Because we're going to be asked too many questions." He answered. "The government is going to get involved with us, and the pharmaceutical industry will throw a fit. They''ll probably sue all of us for everything we're worth. If we get cornered, what are we gonna say? That we were just experimenting around and we stumbled upon a world-changing cure? It wouldn't fly with anyone."  
"Yeah you're right. But we can't just keep this secret."  
"For now, we'll have to." Joe shook his head. "As much as I'd like to be famous and leave my mark on history, I say we slowly introduce this to the world to make it as if everyone's efforts like donating and making an AIDS quilt actually brought success."  
Joe hit the crosswalk button and they crossed the busy street towards the Leland Commons.  
"Ah! There it is." He said as they came close to a brown apartment complex.

Suddenly, Alcor shouted: _"JAMES! GET BACK!"  
_ " _Wha-?"  
_ Not questioning his judgment he suddenly grabbed Joe and leaped away from the door.  
"Hey! What the hell are you—"  
Just then, the entire building exploded. The windows shattered, hard brick burst apart, and it looked like hell on earth.  
James heard a loud ringing in his ears as his vision slowly returned to normal.  
"Shit!" He looked and saw tons of glass and debris falling towards them. Quickly he summoned a burst of Solarium and shielded them. The debris hit the barrier and bounced off. Thinking fast, he grabbed Joe and flew out the building's blast radius.

" _I sensed explosives James."_ Alcor said darkly. _"Someone knew you two were coming and—"  
_ "LESLIE!" Joe shouted. "LESLIE!"  
He quickly turned to James, who was suddenly in his Nightshroud garb.  
"I…" Joe started. "Thought so."  
Nodding, Nightshroud took off at full speed back towards the apartment building.

" _Alcor! Scan!"  
_ " _Scanning…Scanning…Scanning…"  
_ "Come on…come on!" Nightshroud looked around the collapsing building and tried to search for any survivors including Leslie.  
" _James, there are two people trapped on the top floor, three people unconscious on the second, and one unconscious outside."_ Alcor finally spoke.  
" _Alright, second then top floor."  
_ Smashing through the window he conjured up a large Solarium barrier, grabbed the unconscious college students, and placed them inside. He then entered it and flew back outside towards Joe. Landing, he set them down carefully next to him.  
"I already called for help." Joe said. "The fire department and the paramedics are on their way."

Giving him another nod, Nightshroud quickly flew back into the blaze. He looked and saw the third floor was about to collapse.  
" _Hurry James!"_ Alcor warned. _"I give the third floor about 25 seconds before it gives out!"  
_ " _Got it!"  
_ He smashed through another window on the third floor and saw the two young adults trying to put the fire out. Both were burned on their shoulders and back.  
"The exit's blocked!" The boy said.  
"Ze are trapped here!" The girl added.  
Moving quickly he placed his hands on the boy and girl's shoulders. Closing his eyes, he shot a blast of Solarium at the wall and blew it open. Just as the foundations gave out, he quickly flew them outside to the third unconscious body, which was Leslie.  
He extended the Solarium shield to her body and quickly flew back to Joe. As he got closer he could see students arriving and observing the collapsing structure while maintaining a save distance.  
At the same time, everyone could hear sirens as fire trucks and ambulances screamed onto the scene. James released Leslie into Joe's arms and he cradled her. She was burned badly on her face and stomach. However the girl was luckily breathing.

" _Coma."_ Alcor judged. _"She was lucky to not have been in the building when it exploded, but she was likely about to go in, and got burned badly. However with us…"  
_ Nightshroud knew where that was going; his Solarium should fix her.  
" _There's no doubt about it."_ He thought. _"The apartment bomber is clearly the same person who's been murdering all these big figures. Leslie is Eugene Fredrickson's daughter. However why attempt to kill her and us at once? I'm sure Leslie doesn't have a suspicious past like her father. Also if this bomber wanted her dead, why not do it sooner? Unless she knows something about this bomber…Finally, why bomb the apartment now? Classes were in session around this time, which means this would be the time where there are the least students in the building at this point. Odd…"  
_ "Joe, let me." Nightshroud placed his hands over her body and Solarium started flowing through her skin. She emitted a blue glow, and the burn marks slowly disappeared.  
"She'll wake up soon." He stated finally.  
"Some of her hair is still missing." Joe said, questioningly.  
"I unfortunately cannot fix that." Nightshroud shook his head. "But I know someone who can."

After making sure everyone was accounted for, both Nightshroud and Joe started for Pamela Isley's greenhouse. But before they could leave, they were suddenly tapped on the shoulders.  
Turning around, they saw it was the boy and girl from the top floor.  
"Wait!" The boy started. "Before you go, I just want to say thank you for saving us."  
"You really pulled us through." The girl nodded extending her hand. "I'm Georgina."  
"And I'm George." The boy did the same.  
" _George and Georgina?"_ Alcor wondered. _"How odd…"  
_ After shaking both hands, Nightshroud shrugged.  
"It's no problem." He said. "Always happy to help. Oh! And this too."  
He raised his hands and regrew the burned off skin as he did with Leslie. Soon they were healthy again.

"Thanks!" They both grinned.  
"Whoa." Joe whispered.  
Nightshroud/James noticed that both the boy and girl were extremely good-looking. Georgina was 5' 3" with a very lean and sexy figure with blond hair, blue eyes, and clear skin, while George was a full 6' also with a lean but muscular figure with olive skin, green eyes and black hair. He was also well groomed.  
" _They don't look related at all…"  
_ " _They're not. They've apparently known each other only in college."  
_ "You're close." George said.  
James snapped out of it. "W-what?"  
"We're not related, for we've been best friends since high school actually." Georgina finished.  
"H-how did you—"  
"We're meta-humans too!" They said together. "We have mental powers!"

"Wait a minute…" Joe started. "You're the girl that maintains the perfect appearances!"  
She bowed. "Indeed I am."  
"Appearances?" James asked dumbly.  
Joe turned to him, realizing his need to maintain anonymity.  
"There's this girl who seemingly maintains perfect stature and beauty everyday but uses no special sediments or creams." Joe answered.  
Georgina blushed. "Is that what they say?"  
James shrugged. "I wouldn't know. Anyway, so what's the matter?"  
Both George and Georgina closed the distance and came close to them.

"We would like to join you!"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Across The Universe of Time

"Where am I?"  
"What am I doing here?"  
"Who are you?"  
"Why am I here?"  
"What have I done to you?"  
"Please answer me!"

A teenage girl sat in a black cell with her arms chained to the wall. She was barely clothed, with nothing but a large shirt to cover her body. The girl looked up at the dark figure in front of her.  
"You are far away from home." The figure answered. "Forget your family, forget your friends, and forget your old life. That chapter is over."  
"W-why?" She sobbed.  
"Because I said so." The male figure replied. "Now get up. _El Silencio_ doesn't want his commodity to devalue."  
The figure took out a key, unhooked her shackles, then forcibly grabbed her arm and yanked her up. He dragged her to the cell door and down a dimly lit hallway.  
"No…please…please stop!" She protested.  
"Shut up." The man ordered. He forcefully yanked her in front of him.  
Whimpering, the girl walked slowly towards the bright light. The impatient man forced her forward. Soon she was exposed to the brightness outside, forcing her to shut her eyes in an attempt to get used to the sunlight. The girl looked around and saw a platform with four other girls similarly clothed standing there with a collar around each of their necks.

Gasping, she now understood where she was. But before she could do anything, two men grabbed her arms and dragged her to the platform.  
"NO! NO! NO! STOP!" Tears streamed down the girl's face.  
"I said shut UP!" the man slapped her across the face, leaving a handprint.  
"Gustavo! Enough!" Another man's voice sounded. "Get her onto the platform with the others!"  
The girl was picked up and carried to the platform where she stood on the right side of them. Shaking in fear, silent tears streamed down her face as a collar was fitted on her own neck.  
"Now then." The man named Gustavo spoke. "We have five commodities here. _El Silencio_ , how about this lovely thing from Costa Rica?"  
" _Thing?"_ The teenage girl thought. _"They don't even call us people?"  
_ The Costa Rican girl looked up at the large throne-like seat. Sitting there was a man in a white suit and a black hat with a black tie. He was also wearing a black Zorro-like mask.  
 _El Silencio_ sat still for a moment, then shook his head.  
Gustavo shrugged, then signaled behind the platform.

A gunshot rang out, and the girls gasped as the Costa Rican girl fell over dead from a bullet to the head.

The teenage girl trembled. _"I'm going to be killed here!"  
_ "Next!" Gustavo continued. "This gorgeous prize from Brazil!"  
The teenage girl admitted the Brazilian girl was very beautiful. She had a nice figure, tanned, was well-endowed and with long flowing dark hair.  
A few men in the background wolf-whistled as Gustavo displayed her.  
 _El Silencio_ shook his head. Gustavo's head dropped, and he motioned again. Another gunshot, and the Brazilian girl fell to the floor dead.  
The teenage girl started to tremble even more, when the next girl from Uganda was shot dead almost right away.  
" _Three dead, only two of us left."_ The girl thought fearfully.  
"Choose!" Gustavo pointed. "One girl from France, and the other from the United States of America!"  
The teenage girl and the French girl looked at each other. She could see the French girl's eyes welling up with tears.

" _Je suis desole_." The French girl whispered sadly.

"I'm sorry too." The teen girl whispered back with tears.  
She looked at the beautiful French girl in front of her, and she was extraordinarily pretty. She had piercing blue eyes, clear soft caucasian skin, and short but smooth blond hair.  
Just then, _El Silencio_ stood up. Everyone watched as he raised his hand and pointed to the teenage girl.  
The French girl exhaled, but still wept.

" _Morte est le seul moyen d'échapper."_ She whispered.

BANG.

The teen girl gasped as she saw the lights leave the French girl's blue eyes; the beautiful blond collapsed to the ground, dead.  
"$8,500." A man spoke.  
Suddenly, she was grabbed by Gustavo and deposited in front of the large throne.  
Looking up, she could see a scary glint in the man's eyes. He reached under the throne, took out a briefcase and tossed it to Gustavo.  
"Payment." _El Silencio_ finally spoke.  
Grinning, Gustavo opened the briefcase and saw rolls of $100 bills in front of him. Closing the briefcase, he saluted him and departed with his entourage. The teen girl looked and saw an inscription on his belt buckle:

 **WSF**

She gasped out loud but suddenly felt a stinging pain on her back. The teenage girl cried out, and then fell unconscious.

* * *

 _Three weeks later_

The teenage girl lay naked in a bathtub crying profusely in a pool of her own blood. Bruises were all over her legs, stomach, and face. She felt broken. Battered. Destroyed. She had her innocence forcefully ripped from her and had a few ribs broken in the process. Within a few days, she had lost her family, her friends, and her freedom.  
" _A-all I wanted…was to be a doctor and help people…"_ She thought, weeping. _"Now I'm nothing but a sex slave…I've become something to be used and abused until thrown away…"  
_ She slowly laid the side of her head in the blood. The broken teenage girl slowly rocked from side to side in a fetal position.  
" _Nobody knows where I am…"_ The girl wept. _"I am an American, but no help will come."  
_  
Then suddenly, something ignited within her.

A fire. It started to burn inside her heart intensely. She suddenly no longer wanted to escape yet.  
The fire continued to burn. Higher and higher it grew until it covered her being. She could now only feel one thing:

 _Rage._

She slowly stood up, and wrapped a towel around her waist.  
"My name is Lana." The girl announced.  
Lana redressed herself, and saw a fire escape next to the bath. She stared at it for a moment, and then looked at the sink. She slowly pulled one of the drawers open.  
" _Bingo."_ She thought, and pulled out a pair of scissors. Pocketing them, she checked around the door to make sure _El Silencio_ was still asleep.  
Lana then looked around the cupboard and found a lighter. Pocketing that, she looked up at the ceiling and saw a smoke detector.  
Formulating a plan, she turned on the shower and closed the curtains. She then stood up, lit the lighter and held it up to the smoke detector.  
The small circular machine blared on and beeped all over the room including the bedroom. As soon as she heard him rustling in the other room, Lana quickly hid next to the door.

Just then _El Silencio_ burst into the bathroom. The opening of the door helped hide Lana from his line of sight. The Zorro-looking man crawled slowly towards the shower.

He reached his hand out for the shower curtain when Lana sprang out of hiding with the scissors and sank it deep into his neck.  
"GGRRAAAGHHH!" _El Silencio_ yelled as he reactively swung his arm behind him and clotheslined Lana. Blood spurted everywhere as he turned and faced her. Flying into a rage, he grabbed her and threw her into the bedroom. She landed on her back hard. But before she could react, he was on top of her.  
"YOU THINK THIS WILL KILL ME!?" He shouted. "I HAVE SURVIVED MANY ASSASSINATION ATTEMPTS BEFORE YOU LITTLE GIRL, AND BEFORE YOU—"  
Just then, Lana sprang forward and sank her teeth deeply into the other side of his neck. He screamed even louder but she kept biting. Soon she bit as far as she could and yanked a large portion of his veins and flesh out. _El Silencio_ collapsed in a heap on top of her. Dead.  
Just then Lana heard running footfalls approaching the room. She used all of her strength and pushed the large corpse off of her. She stood up and grasped her ribs in pain.

" _Three broken ribs…"_ She thought, annoyed.

Lana ran for the bathroom and crashed through the window and onto the fire escape just as gunshots rang out in the room. She quickly descended down onto the street and bolted for the large laboratory.  
She noticed the lab was called "STAR LABS" and kept it in mind as she ran into the complex.  
Lana ran by hoards of scientists and security guards as gunshots rang out behind her.  
"Hey! You can't be in here!" A scientist yelled before he was cut down by a bullet.  
"Miss! Please stop! There are experiments going on in here!" Another scientist yelled.  
Lana ignored them as she looked at experiment after experiment. She remembered a science fair she attended before she was kidnapped about "Exobytes."

" _Scientists have been working on a new energy supplement that when taken, will enhance a regular human's natural abilities." Mr. Robinson spoke. "These supplements are called "Exobytes." And they are essentially ways to give humans superpowers. However that is not why they are being used. Currently they are used as a way to break down potential diseases at the molecular level."_

Soon she found the room.

 **Exobyte Testing Facility**

She smashed through the glass door and saw a large vat in front of her. Looking around, she saw a crowd of scientists staring at her.  
"What are you doing in here!?" One of them called out. "This is a testing area! You are not all—"  
His speech was cut short when a bullet penetrated his skull. Everyone looked and Gustavo was standing there with his men.  
"Kill her!" He screamed.  
Lana bolted for the stairs that was positioned over the vat as more bullets flew over her head.  
However one bullet didn't miss.  
Her right leg exploded in pain as she collapsed to the ground. Lana looked and could see the vat was right in front of her.  
She crawled slowly towards the vat as Gustavo and his men ran up the stairs closing in on her.

Closer and closer she crawled, blood leaking out of her legs and now her ribs.  
" _Internal bleeding…"_ She realized. _"I only…have moments…"  
_ She looked in front of her and saw millions of blue and yellow particles swimming around a pool of clear water.  
Just then another bullet struck her left arm.  
Lana slowly turned and saw Gustavo was only a few feet away.

In desperation, she rolled off the platform and into the vat.

"NO!" He yelled as he reached out trying to stop her from falling in but failing.  
Suddenly, the clear liquid exploded upwards. Exobytes flew around the clear water as everyone could see a figure in the middle being reconstructed. They could see the body suddenly fly upwards over the vat. Soon the liquid receded into the vat, and Gustavo could see Lana floating over it.  
Lana looked at her hands and legs.  
" _All healed…"_ She thought. _"No…revitalized."  
_ Her hands glowed red and she suddenly screamed as loud as she could. Red energy flew around her as the testing room shook, forcing everyone to cover their ears.

Lana suddenly flew at Gustavo, grabbed his shirt, and slammed him onto the wall.  
The tan man coughed up blood as she recoiled at the sight of Lana's red eyes.  
"You…sold me…" She whispered. "To be the plaything of a mob boss…"  
"P-please! Stop!" Gustavo shivered.  
"Drop the man now!" Lana looked and saw his men surrounded her.  
She rolled her eyes and stamped on the ground hard. The earth split open and sharp spikes emerged and impaled every single gunman through the chest.

Gustavo gasped and Lana stared at him.

"Ah. I see you still have the briefcase." She gave him a wicked grin.  
Lana suddenly threw him across the room and he slammed into a test tube, shattering it.  
The teenage girl picked up the briefcase and opened it.  
"Ah he overpaid you." Lana noticed. "I was sold for $8,500 and he gave you $12,000. I guess his lust for young girls got the best of him. Well no matter, he's dead now."  
Gustavo groaned in pain and slowly stood up, only to have Lana appear in front of him.  
"WSF?" Lana ripped off his belt buckle. "The World Soccer Federation? How unexpected."  
Rage energy leaked from her body. She looked behind the tan man and saw the broken test tube.

"Now that gives me an idea." Lana suddenly lifted him by his shirt and dragged him across the broken glass.  
He screamed as blood splattered from his back.  
"Oh I'm sorry. Does that hurt?" She asked innocently. "Maybe it didn't hurt _enough_."  
Lana suddenly plunged a hand deep into his chest. Gustavo screamed as her hand tore through his skin and into his cardiovascular system. She grasped something soft and yanked it out.  
The tan man cried out in agony as his heart still connected by his veins and arteries rested in her right hand.  
"Looks like you won't be needing this." Lana suddenly crushed the heart in her hand.

Gustavo retched and went still. Blood oozed between her hands.

"Well then." She spoke to no one in particular. "Time to go home."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Pleasurable Company

"Um…" Nightshroud started. "You want to join me? I mean I don't really operate—"  
"Please James Davis." Georgina protested. "If not, can we at lest hang vith you for the time being? You have great power that you've used wonderfully!"  
" _Crap! She knows who I am!"_ James thought, despondent.  
" _That makes three new people that know who you are."_ Alcor warned.  
"We have become much attracted to you because of your exploits." George added. "Plus I can see the HIV treatment in the briefcase, you also do good work outside of hero fighting."  
Joe was dumbstruck. "You can see through shit too!?"

They both chuckled. "Indeed."

Nightshroud sighed. "Look, now is not the time to decide that. I'm going to a friend's quarters to help another friend get better and plus I need to find the one who's been pulling off all of these murders. It's likely they blew up the apartment complex."  
The three of them nodded.  
"Let us join you!" George and Georgina said together.  
"Alright, alright let's go."

* * *

"What's this James? You starting an orgy party?" Pamela Isley folded her arms.  
"Pam!" James spat, annoyed.  
"Ooh I like her." Joe muttered.  
"I wouldn't mind personally…" George added.  
"Maybe later." Georgina said, turning to Pam. "You're ze' famous Pamela Isley AND my biochemistry teacher! That's fabulous!"  
Pam winked at her as she readied the hair regrowth supplement, causing Georgina to blush.

After the explosion at the apartment complex, they decided to regroup at Pamela Isley's greenhouse for the time being.

"Alright James, this will do it." Pam gave him a red and purple pill on a small dish. "Take with water."  
Just then, everyone heard Leslie beginning to stir. Joe quickly sat next to her on the bed.  
"Leslie." He said softly. "Are you alright?"  
The girl slowly opened her eyes and looked at Joe.  
"J-Joe?" She spoke. "Where am I?"  
"You are in Professor Isley's greenhouse." James returned in his regular clothes holding a glass of water and the pill.  
"Swallow." He ordered. "Joe, give her the treatment after she regrows her hair."  
"Oh dear." Leslie felt the left side of her head and noticed the bald area.

After she swallowed the pill, everyone watched as new hair started to emerge from the bald areas. Soon she had recovered all of her lost hair.  
"How are you feeling Leslie?" Joe asked.  
"I feel a little dizzy but considering that I'm still dying from HIV, not bad." She said sarcastically.  
He shook his head. "We've compiled a treatment for you."  
"A treatment? There is no treatment." Leslie replied, curiously.  
"Ah! But these two men have found von!" Georgina grinned.  
"The briefcase." George gestured to.  
"George? Georgina?" Leslie questioned. "What are you all doing here?"

"Can you keep a secret?" Joe asked.

"Of course I—"  
"I mean truly." Joe interrupted. "I know we've messed with each other many times in the past, but this is very serious. Leslie, you were targeted by an expert killer. That killer also murdered your father and other big business icons in the industry. So please tell me, can you keep this a secret?"  
"I get that, and of course I can!" Leslie insisted, annoyed. "What makes you think—?"  
"We all have superpowers." James announced.  
She stopped. "Huh?"  
"Joe is super intelligent, George and Georgina have psychic powers, Pamela is Mysteria and I'm Nightshroud."  
Leslie fell silent for a moment, and then spoke.

"Oh."

"Oh?" Joe wondered. "That's it?"  
"Well sorry if I couldn't find anything else to say." Leslie replied. "I mean most people knew about Pamela Isley as Poison Ivy in the past, I've known Georgina and George for a few years, Joe you've been carrying out experiments that go beyond what regular scientists have done, and James…I figured that you were the one that healed my wounds after the apartment exploded. Plus you don't have a scratch on you."  
Pam clapped. "Not bad."  
"You mentioned the experiments." Joe said. "Take this. It's an HIV treatment James and I developed.  
He pulled the stopper out of the glass bottled and gave it to her. Leslie took a sip and started coughing.

"Ugh…tastes like shit."

Both George and Georgina laughed while James rolled his eyes.  
"Whatever." He said. "Just take it in small gulps."  
"Yeah, I've had to do the same thing with James sometimes." Pam added. "I coughed just like that before. "  
Joe and even Leslie burst out laughing while James reddened.  
"Damn it Pam!" He scolded as she smiled coyly at him.  
"What?" Pam shrugged. "It's a good thing! It means you can flaunt it. 80% of men can't even say that."  
"I am intrigued." Georgina said sexily.  
"As am I." George added.  
"Good god…" James looked at the two college kids. "Are you both feeding off of this? You don't really mean it though right?"

"Well there is one thing we haven't told you about our powers." George started.

"Our powers developed through a hormonal imbalance from our parents." Georgina explained. "We are not related by blood, but we have similar side effects. Star Labs came to us and offered their help because zey were building a metahuman training facility in Gotham because of the recent spike in metahuman activity. Their treatment helped us to control our powers, but sometimes our hormones…"  
As she said that she started to breathe a little heavier. James noticed a blush had formed on her cheeks.  
"Uh…is that supposed to happen?" He asked.

George suddenly collapsed in a chair and grabbed both of his shoulders.  
"Oh my…" Pam suddenly understood. "You DID bring an orgy party!"  
"W-what!?" James turned to her, confused. "What's going on!?"  
Joe opened his mouth to speak but suddenly he could see Georgina's hot breath next to James's ear.  
James jumped back, but was suddenly frozen on the spot.

"What the!?" He stammered. "What are you doing!?"  
Georgina suddenly smiled coyly. "Hormones. Can't help it."  
"What the hell is happening!?" Leslie stood up and walked in front of Joe.  
"God damn it, now I get it!" James would've slapped himself if he weren't frozen.  
"Their aroused. Very aroused." He explained. "I guess the treatment and the psychic powers they have are causing this as they said."  
"It feels good. Admittedly." George spoke from behind them. They all turned and saw him clutching the chair with his hands trying to stay still.  
"There's more." Alcor spoke to everyone. "Their hormonal imbalances are contagious. When this is happening, their powers create a type of magnetic field that attracts anyone in the vicinity. It also opens up the mind's senses when caught in the field."

"And right now we're all caught in it!" Joe concluded.  
"I apologize for the difficulties we may have caused, but that's why we don't have many friends." George clung to the chair even tighter.  
"Well Joe, looks like you got what you wanted after all." James said, still frozen.  
Georgina suddenly leapt at him and reached out for his face, only to be grabbed by Pam.  
"Oh no you don't." She warned. "You may have everyone else hypnotized by accident, but I'm immune. If you're gonna rip his clothes off, get in line."  
Pam's distraction allowed James to break out of her grip. But he could feel the hormonal imbalance occurring inside him too.  
" _This is bad."_ He thought. _"Whoever that killer is likely knows we're still alive and that we're vulnerable right now."  
_ " _We need to fix this immediately."_ Alcor agreed. _"If not, we'll likely be enveloped by the lust that is consuming everyone, and that'll make it worse."_

Nodding, James raised his hands up into the air and unleashed a large flow of Solarium around the room. The blue energy floated to each corner of the room and around to each person before dissipating.  
George soon released the chair he was holding onto, and Georgina was breathing normally.  
"Everyone alright?" James asked.

Before he could hear their answer his head suddenly exploded with pain. He fell to his knees, grabbed his head and yelled.  
"AAAHHHGGGHH!" He screamed.  
"JAMES!" Pam and Joe quickly ran to his side.  
" _You must find the one that was forgotten…"_ A voice spoke in his head.  
" _Who are you!?"_ Alcor demanded.  
" _Someone you buried away long ago…"_ The voice responded.  
Images suddenly started to flash through his head. He saw images from his high school, to middle school, to an unknown beach, to an unfamiliar girl, to…Batman?  
Just then the pain stopped. He looked up at everyone.

"I have a sister." James said wide-eyed. "I have a sister! I HAVE A SISTER WHO'S MISSING, AND BATMAN KNEW ALL ABOUT HER!"

* * *

"Batman, I'm seeing heat levels rising on the island. You need to be careful." Barbara radioed in.

Batman emerged from his Batcave on Arkham Island and looked up into the sky. Fireworks were exploding over the main cellblock. He could see smiles and bats shining over the main block along with a down arrow pointing to the detention center.  
"Ra da da da da da! Batman!" Joker's voice sounded over the P.A. system. "I know it's been a long hard night but good news! We've got something for everyone! Music! Dancing! Chemicals that make monsters, and you don't want to miss it. So get your ass on over to cell block, or you'll miss your final surprise!"  
Narrowing his eyes, he glided town to the ground and stood outside the main entrance, where a team of thugs stood outside with party hats.  
"Let's see now…" The thug with the clipboard checked. "A…no that's not right…B…Bane…Ah! Batman! Go on inside!"  
Forcing him out of the way, Batman kicked the door open, and he could see more thugs standing on both the left and right sides of the hall with another door ahead.

"Yeah! All right!" The thugs cheered and jeered.  
Kicking the door open, Batman emerged into a large circular room with the Joker himself sitting on a makeshift throne holding Scarface.  
"Why didn't you stop Batman!?" The scolded the puppet.  
A thug ran out of the shadows at Batman, who grabbed him and flipped him over his shoulder.  
"Me!? It was your plan you goofy clown!" Scarface spat.  
Another thug ran up behind him to try to tackle him, but he back knuckle-punched his face.  
"Bah! I'm sending you back to the ventriloquist where you belong!" Joker threw the mob puppet to the ground.

A titan than ran out of the shadows to attack the Dark Knight, but his chain forced him back.

"You had to spoil everything did you?" Joker stood up. "Beating up Bane, feeding Scarecrow to Croc, slapping Harley around; my hobby by the way, and ruining all my precious venom plants!"  
"It's over Joker." Batman replied sternly.  
"Over? Well my dear delusional Dark Knight." Joker blasted back. "It hasn't even begun!"  
With that, he pressed a button and the chains came off the two titans and they charged at him.

But suddenly, the ceiling crashed open and Nightshroud slammed onto the ground, causing a shockwave and knocking the two titans over.  
"What are you—?"  
"You knew I had a sister." Nightshroud barked. "My sister has been missing for SIX YEARS, and YOU SAID NOTHING TO ME!"  
"Now is NOT the time to talk about this." Batman readied in battle position.  
"Fine then!" Nightshroud turned to the Joker. "After!"  
"Ah! Another contestant!" He clapped. "Good, I was wondering when I was going to use this."  
He pressed another button, and two more titans came out.  
Gritting his teeth, Nightshroud could feel his rage energy leaking out again.

" _Careful James…"  
_ " _I know god damn it!"  
_ Yelling, he released a barrage of Solarium at the two titans in front, forcing them back. He then flew at full speed and slammed into one titan, smashing him through the wall.  
"Ooh a fight AND a show!" Joker reached behind him and took out some popcorn and started eating.  
Batman quickly dodged the first titan and tornado kicked the second titan. The first titan roared and swung at the Dark Knight, only to accidently hit the second titan. He quickly grabbed the second titan and smashed him into the first titan, knocking them both out.  
Nightshroud then flew back into the room and dive-bombed the third titan, smashing him through the ground and knocking him unconscious. They then both turned to look at the Joker who clapped.

"Nicely done Bats! You deserve a prize!" Joker reached down and pulled a red lever.  
"Your old pal, Commissioner Gordon!"  
Nightshroud gasped as Gordon fell from the ceiling and hung in front of them. He was tied up and just waking up.  
"Say…he looks all run down!" The evil clown declared. "Let's pep him up!"  
Joker pointed the titan gun at the commissioner and pulled the trigger.  
"NO!" Batman jumped in front of Gordon and took the titan square in the chest.  
"Batman!" Nightshroud and Gordon yelled.  
The Dark Knight fell to the ground and struggled.

"Get…away!" He smashed is fist onto the ground and his body started to change.  
"No!" Nightshroud ran next to him.  
" _Alcor! Can we feed So—?"  
_ " _No."  
_ " _What!? What do you mean no!?"  
_ " _It wouldn't work. This titan formula is a new chemical that I have never seen before. It would take hours to figure out the chemical composition and flush it out, and that's time we don't have."  
_ " _DAMN IT! Are we really unable to help him!?"  
_ "Ooh hoo hoo here we go!" Joker jumped down from his perch and walked up to him. "We're going to have some fun now kiddies!"

Batman suddenly looked up at him no longer changing.  
"You're trying to resist the change!" He realized. "That's not fair!"  
Joker delivered a swift kick to the Dark Knight's head knocking him over.

"JOKER!" Nightshroud charged at him, but suddenly his head exploded in pain again.  
" _No! Not now!"_ He thought, terrified.  
More images started to fly through his head. But this time they were all images from his high school.  
He could see his classmates laughing and pointing at him.  
" _W-why are they laughing!?"_ James thought. _"Something I did!?"  
_ "Come on! Give in!" Joker demanded.  
Batman retaliated by delivering a punch to his jaw.  
"Whoo…" Joker felt his face for a moment then looked down at him.  
"So…you wanna play hardball bats? Okay then! Your call!" He continued. The clown reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a feather and tried to tickle him, only to get another punch in the face from the Dark Knight.

"Ohhhh you're ruining my big night!" Joker pouted. "Months of planning down the crapper! I just wanted to bring down your grim façade and for ONCE let you see the world as I see it, giggling in a corner and bleeding. But you've denied me even that, I have nothing more to live for.  
He pointed the gun under his chin and fired. The clown fell down to the ground and suddenly his eyes became green.  
Suddenly, the images in James's mind stopped. He looked around and saw Joker on the ground.

"W-what!? What happened?" He asked.

Before Batman could answer, they looked and saw Joker's body starting to change…


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Connection

"That…was insane." James breathed.

Joker had taken the titan formula and transformed into a titan himself. However since he was already insane, his mind and personality remained the same. Despite the newfound power, Batman was able to use James's Solarium to knock Joker into a high voltage circuit breaker on top of the cellblock, plus use the antidote to cure himself and the wretched clown.  
Soon Commissioner Gordon and the Gotham Police worked with the remaining Arkham security guards to reestablish control over the prison.  
James turned to Batman.  
"Alright, no more games." He said angrily. "You knew about my sister. Didn't you?"

Batman looked at him for a moment, then nodded.

"Years ago." He started. "A war was brewing on the streets of Gotham. Joker released a chemical bomb in North Gotham in an attempt to kill the populace with laughter. But at the same time, Scarecrow attacked South Gotham with nerve toxin and tried to kill _that_ populace with fear. It caused a war between Joker and Scarecrow's men that spilled out all over Gotham.  
"It nearly ripped the city apart." Batman continued. "It took the combined efforts of Barbara, Dick, Tim, and myself to stop the war. But during that time, hundreds of people were kidnapped or hurt during the confusion. I managed to track down nearly all of them except…"  
"My sister Hanna." James finished. "Alright, so you lost track of her. I'm upset at that, but I'm even more confused as to why I suddenly remember her now? I mean she's my older sister! It's like her memory was wiped from my head years ago. What happened?"  
"Not here." Batman said. "We'll continue this at the Batcave."  
"Uh actually Batman…" James started. "I'm sort of with a team right now..."

"What?"  
"An apartment complex exploded near my college." James explained. "And a few of the people I rescued had superpowers. They all wanted to join me in crime fighting."  
"They can wait." Batman said finally. "You and I need to talk."  
Nodding, James flew off.  
"Hey how's Max doing?" James spoke over his Ari1 to Pam.  
"Being a little fussy, but overall pretty good." She replied. "He's not one to readily accept green into his diet, and that annoys me."  
James as Nightshroud flew high above the city towards Wayne Manor. Even though he had been to the Batcave many times, he still tries to stay out of sight by flying high and letting the darkness hide him.  
He laughed. "Well that's what I get for cooking chicken two weeks in a row."

"Bastard."

Soon James had made it to the Batcave. He flew down next to the computer and sat on a nearby chair.  
Suddenly, all the emotions came flooding back to him with memories flashing through his mind; he fell to his knees and cried.  
" _Hanna…"_ James wept. _"Where are you? Please tell me you're not dead…"  
_ "Get up."  
He looked up and saw Batman staring down at him. Wiping the tears away, he stood up to face him.  
"You know you could have a heart once in a while." James muttered.  
"Forget it. Before you demanded an explanation about your sister." Batman/Bruce said. "I will tell you. Sit down."  
James nodded and sat back in his chair. Sitting down at the supercomputer, Bruce removed his cowl and stared at the young student.

"6 years ago." He started. "I've already told you about the war between Joker and Scarecrow. But there's more. More about you."  
James leaned forward. "What's so special about me?"  
"Think back to the night you were first abducted." Bruce ordered. "Where were you and why were you there?"  
James pondered for a moment, then answered.  
"I was at the Star Rizz Club." He explained. "I had gone with a few classmates to the club for some dancing. I remember being very depressed that night and just wanted to unwind. While we were in there a few gunmen burst into the club and started shooting up the place. However they also started taking hostages. My classmates made it out, but I escaped through the back entrance. However that was when they came after me and well…the rest you know."

"Notice anything wrong with that scenario?" Bruce asked him.  
James went silent for a moment then answered again:  
"They had plenty of other hostages, but they suddenly released them and went for me when I escaped." He said.  
"Correct." Bruce nodded. "Why do you think that is?"  
"I don't know!" James exclaimed. "Maybe I had something they wanted?"  
"Close." Bruce nodded again. "The truth is James, I've known about you much longer than you realize."  
The college kid blinked. "How long?"  
"Since the Joker and Scarecrow war." Bruce replied. "6 years ago."

His eyes widened. "That long!?"

Bruce nodded. "It's because another incident occurred around the same time. Your high school for instance."  
James was astonished. "H-how do you know that!?"  
"Because I was forced to intervene." Bruce responded. "By the sounds of it, you're starting to regain some old memories. You know about your sister, but do you know about the other girl?"  
He slowly nodded. "A tad. That girl was blond with green eyes. She was very pretty but for some reason I have this intense feeling of hatred towards her."  
"I know why." Bruce said. "And you won't like it."  
"Tell me!" James jumped up from his seat angrily. "I need to know!"  
"Alright." Bruce tapped a few keys on his supercomputer and images of his high school appeared.  
"Th-that's my high school!" James pointed. "But…it's in ruins!?"

Bruce turned to him and dropped a bombshell.

"You destroyed the school."

* * *

Barbara Gordon jogged towards Wayne Manor with her backpack in one hand and her cellphone in the other.  
"Yes Kara I know." She said. "I've been seeing it on the news too. These murders are not isolated events. It can't be. I'm going to look into it myself."  
As she arrived to Wayne Manor, Alfred came to greet her.  
"Good evening Mistress Gordon." He nodded and stepped aside.  
"Hey Alfred!" She gave him a smile and walked in.  
As soon as Barbara opened the grandfather clock to go in to the Batcave, he could hear shouting.  
"I can't have!" She heard James yell. "How could I possibly be even capable of such an act!? It doesn't make sense!"

Barbara quickly rushed downstairs where she saw James with his back to Bruce and his face buried in his hands.  
"Bruce!" Barbara quickly settled next to him, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.  
"Hey Barb." Bruce greeted. "This isn't—"  
"I know." She answered. "But I heard James and I grew worried.  
James turned around to face them.  
"I'm sorry you had to hear that Barbara." He said sadly. "But apparently I just found out I destroyed my own high school!"  
"What!?" Barbara gasped. "No way! That can't—"

"It is unfortunately." Bruce tapped a few more keys and a few pictures of the second floor hallway came up.  
James looked, and gasped.  
He could see his 16-year-old self with his whole body glowing red with his hands over his head and the other students cowering away from him in fear.  
"But…" He stammered. "I…didn't have superpowers then!"  
"You did." Bruce corrected. "But your memories were wiped…by me."  
James rounded on him. "Y-you wiped my memories!?"  
"Yes." He replied. "It was for your own safety."

The young student's hands started to shake with rage, but he sat down.

"Explain…how." He demanded livid.  
But suddenly, his head exploded in pain again.  
"ARRGH!" James grabbed his head as more images from high school appeared in his head, but this time the pain stopped immediately.  
Gasping for breath, he stood up and looked at them.  
"No need." He said sadly. "I already know."

 _Six Years Ago_

"Hey man what happened last night?" Daniel asked worriedly.  
James leaned against his locker and scratched his head.  
"I actually don't remember." He replied. "Last night was the party, I was with Abby, then nothing."  
"You don't remember what happened?" Daniel grew more worried. "Look man I gotta tell you somethi—"  
"OH LORD WHAT THE HELL!?" A girl suddenly yelled looking at her phone.

Everyone looked, and saw a very graphic image of someone with his pants down.  
"Who the hell sent that to you!?" One of her friends asked.  
"I don't know! It just popped up!" She exclaimed.  
"Oh god I just got the picture too!" A boy yelled.  
"Me too!" Another student yelled.  
"What the hell?" James looked around.

"James…" Daniel whispered. "That's a picture of you."

His eyes widened. "B-but…I never took a picture like that!"  
"Apparently you did." He whispered. "You should leave class for a little while and figure out who—"  
"Ah there he is." A voice sounded.  
They both turned, and saw the blond-haired Abby looking at them. Arms crossed.  
Everyone turned and looked at the three kids in the middle.  
"Abby, where were you last night?" James walked up to her, only to get slapped across the face.

"Fuck you asshole." She spat.

"What the hell are you talking about!?" He raised his hands in confusion. "I don't remember what happened!"  
"Convenient." Abby glared. "You mean you don't remember last night when you tried to rape me?"  
Everyone gasped, including James.  
"WHAT!?" He shouted. "I would NEVER do that!"  
"Really?" Abby asked, furiously. "Then that's NOT you in the picture!?"  
She took out her phone and showed him the picture. James looked and gasped.

" _It is me!"_ He thought, terrified. _"But why would I take such a horrible picture!?"  
_ "I don't know who took that picture but for god sake! I would NEVER do that to you!" James protested.  
"Just forget it. I'm done." Abby turned to walk away and James reached out, only to be shoved by one of the kids.  
"So you like that kinda shit huh do you!?" One of the boys shoved him again.  
"I DIDN'T DO IT!" James yelled, but he could see that nobody believed him.  
"The police are on their way James." Abby said as she walked away. "Go fuck yourself."  
Another kid suddenly shoved James again, this time a girl.

"Rapist!" She shouted.

Another girl scratched him across the face. Then another boy punched him hard in the ribs, sending him to the ground.  
A few kids were suddenly on him punching and kicking him.  
James crawled into a fetal position and took the abuse.  
" _I didn't do it…I didn't do it!"_ He thought. _"Why would someone want to do this to me!? Please! Stop!"  
_ But it never stopped, they spat at him, threw things at him, and kicked him, then suddenly it stopped.

He looked, and saw that everyone staring at him. Laughing.

" _What the—?"_

"I just realized." One of the kids said, looking at the picture. "You are never having children, because god no girl will ever feel that."  
Everyone burst out laughing.  
"Good lord, that's barely a few centimeters at best!" Another girl said.  
The laughter continued, and the humiliation continued to weigh him down.  
Tears started falling from James's eyes. He just wanted it to stop.  
"Ooh that's too bad James." A voice spoke above him.

He looked and noticed that everyone was frozen in place as if time had stopped. In front of him he saw Abby staring down at him smiling.

"What do you want…?" James whimpered.  
She suddenly grabbed him and slammed him in front of his locker.  
"Who do you think took the picture?" Abby whispered in his ear. "I did."  
He gasped. "W-wha-?"  
She slapped him. "Shut up. I'm talking now."

He fell silent as she explained.

"You were one of the best students in this school." Abby whispered. "You beat me in every subject. I always finished below you in everything. Now normally this would just drive the other me to beat you, but I also know you hold something I want."  
"I want your power." Abby whispered coyly. "You have this energy inside you that I cannot figure out what it is. I couldn't take it before because you were so confident and had a strong will. All my attempts failed to extract it. So I decided to become your "girlfriend" so I could find your weakness and exploit it."  
"And your weakness was a boring one: Sex." Abby muttered. "It was simple really. A 15-year-old virgin who went to Catholic school for most of his life and practiced abstinence? It was too easy. You see, I can sense hormone levels, and you were just the horniest out of all the boys in this school. I control this place! So that night at the party, I pretended to be "ready to fuck" and just as you were at your weakest, I knocked you out with my powers. Then I took your phone, took the picture, and programmed it to send to every phone in this school. Wrecking your reputation and any confidence you might still have. "And now I can extract that power of yours because you're so weak and defeated. You never went to the gym, never took self-defense, and never learned to fight because you were a pacifist. You honestly think I could ever be your girlfriend? Get fucking real."

The moment she stopped talking, he heard everyone laughing again as if time had resumed again. The humiliating noise was ringing in his ears and he couldn't take it anymore.  
He felt a fist plunge into his stomach. Hard. Blood spurted out of his mouth as he was too weak to fight back. He took blow after blow and could not retaliate.

And then suddenly, he felt something. It felt…hot. It felt like he was burning. Like he was on fire.

He could feel his sanity slipping away as he realized that his relationship was a huge lie. Crazy fantasies flew through his head as he pictured everyone dead on the floor by his hand. He pictured the school burning as the kids screamed to death.  
James could feel his body becoming more and more energized with each fantasy. He pictured Abby bleeding to death by him. He pictured every single kid nailed to the walls of the high school alive.  
He then began to feel his teeth changing. James's eyes flashed red, and his teeth bore fangs.

Rage burned through him, hatred clouded his judgment, and he finally snapped.

He opened his eyes at the still laughing students and Abby. Suddenly, a fist flew forward and connected with Abby's left cheek, sending her to the ground in agony. Seeking out the nearest student he suddenly sprang up, grabbed the boy, and smashed him into the wall.

Everybody stopped laughing, and students began to back away.

James then noticed the teachers and staff were also in the hallway but doing nothing, which only fueled his rage.  
" _They could…have…HELPED ME! BUT THEY DIDN'T!"_ He screamed in his mind.  
The young teenage boy raised his hands high over his head and glowed red. He opened his mouth and an animalistic roar sounded from his vocals, forcing everyone to cover their ears. The windows shattered, the ground cracked, and the lights went out.  
Just then he charged and punched the boy in front of him, he coughed out blood and slammed into the wall, unconscious.  
Everyone suddenly turned to run, when James slammed his hand onto the ground. Red energy seeped into the doors, walls, and windows, which locked everyone on the second floor.

"You like to laugh at me huh…?" James spoke in a voice not his own. He slowly walked towards the students, who cowered in fear.  
Flames suddenly erupted all around them as the temperature of the hall started to rise rapidly.  
He flicked his hand, and suddenly another boy was yanked by the energy and dropped in front of James.  
You think I'll never have children huh?" He asked calmly.  
The boy shook in fear when James suddenly pointed at the boy's pants and set them on fire. Yelling, the boy quickly removed them to avoid burning his skin, but that's when James suddenly tore off his boxers too.

Then he burst out laughing.

"HA!" He laughed. _"I'M_ not having children? That's not even a millimeter!"  
"Stop this!" A girl cried out. "Please!"  
James locked eyes with her, who quickly hid behind a boy he assumed was her boyfriend.  
He grabbed the pant less boy in front of him and hurled him through the window. The boy landed on the bottom rooftop, unconscious. The angry kid then suddenly appeared in front of the boy she was hiding behind and grabbed his neck.  
Choking, the boy was lifted up and smashed into a locker as he stood face to face with the girl.

"Ah! You're the one that made the centimeter comment!" James grinned evilly.  
"I-I-I d-didn't—" She started but he cut her off.  
"You meant every word." He said. "Now let's see if you have any goods."  
He reached for her when suddenly a blast of energy struck him in the back. Turning around, James could see Abby standing there with her hand out.  
"Nobody does that to me." She growled.

Suddenly, more rage energy started to leak out of his body.

" _What did she just say?_ _"_ James thought in a rage. _"That's MY LINE!"_  
"Nobody…does that…do YOU!?" He roared. "WHAT ABOUT ME YOU BITCH!? I've…I'VE HAD ENOUGH!"  
He raised his hands in the air one more time and looked at everyone, including Abby.

"DIE!" James roared and unleashed an immense shockwave of rage energy that blasted the second floor apart. The second floor gave out as Fredrickson's High School went up in flames, and finally collapsed.

Nobody saw the small metal device rolling around in the hallway that was casting a large barrier around the school and the unconscious students.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Suffering and Sensuality

James Davis fell to his knees while clutching his sides. More tears started to flow as he cried loudly at the memories he regained.

"Th-that's what happened." He said finally. "I committed murder, and destroyed an entire school."  
"Not quite." Bruce shook his head. "While you were terrorizing the kids, I had picked up your energy signal and had snuck into the school. I threw a molecular scatter-barrier to try to lessen the damage you did to the surrounding area and students."

"What does that mean?" James sobbed.

"A molecular scatter-barrier is a rare device we don't use very often." Barbara explained. "When thrown, a large molecular shield appears, scans for life signs and shields them. It doesn't block all damage, but it provides a kind of "energy suit" that stops fatalities. It likely cushioned the blow the school's collapse made and your attack. So maybe all the students you hurt ended up being fine after all."  
"However they did suffer major injuries." Bruce added. "Your attacks were so ferocious they nearly caused internal bleeding to many students. Luckily you fell unconscious moments after the attack."

"So it was rage energy?" James asked. "Nero's energy existed before my Solarium?"

"In a sense yes." Bruce nodded. "There was rage energy present, but no separate consciousness formed. But there's more to it."  
"After you fell unconscious," Bruce continued. "I took you to the Batcave and did a scan of your brain. The experience you just had would've cause psychological damage to your mind and could've driven you insane. At the same time, the disappearance of your sister Hanna would've only made your condition worse. If I had left you, it's likely you would've become a supervillain then and there."  
"M-me? A supervillain?" James stammered. "Unbelievable. Well I guess I can handle the memories now can I?"  
"Don't think like that." Barbara insisted. "The feeling of depression and self-loathing can be the most difficult states to pull through."  
"Indeed it is." Bruce typed in a few keys on his supercomputer and another image popped up.

James gasped. "Hanna!"

He looked and saw a picture of his older sister not long before she was kidnapped. She was dark haired with tan skin and was wearing a blue dress for her prom with her date next to her.  
"And before you ask, no her date was not involved." Bruce said before James could open his mouth.  
"N-now what?" He turned to the rich billionaire.  
"Go home James." Bruce turned to him. "You've learned a lot of traumatizing information. Go take a rest, and see me tomorrow. We'll go after this mystery murderer together."  
Slowly, he nodded.

"Thanks." James said as he started flying towards the exit to the Batcave.

But suddenly, Pamela Isley burst through the back cave entrance with Max in tow.  
"James! I heard what happened! Are you alright?" Pam asked quickly.  
"I'm fine." He nodded. "Sort of."  
"Alright Brucey, you and Alfred will take Max tonight as part of our schedule." She spoke as Max ran towards Barbara.  
"Hello Maxy!" The red-haired crime fighter picked him up and cuddled him.  
"I need to explain things to you Pam." James turned to face her.  
She turned towards the Batcave exit. "Coming?"

"It's all true?" Pam listened.

After they returned to the greenhouse, James told Pam everything about his memories in high school.  
"It was horrible." James wept. "I lost control, I went insane and tried to kill everyone in the school. It reminded me of Nero like before. I mean I was absolutely monstrous. I didn't want to tell you, for I was afraid you'd look at me differently. Maybe with disgust or-"  
Pam's hand suddenly went over his mouth. She stood up, walked over to him and sat opposite of him on her bed.  
"I committed eco-terrorism for many years." She explained. "I've killed many people, and I held a philosophy that the human race should die for destroying the plants of the world. Trust me, I won't. Honestly, you're not the worst I've seen."

James looked up at her. "Can't argue with that I guess."

"Alright then." Pam suddenly stood up and grabbed James's Ari1 off the table.  
"Wh-what are you doing?" He asked, surprised.  
"I'm calling George and Georgina over." Pam answered. "You need a night to unwind, and I've decided you need it."  
"W-wait! It's very late tonight!" James protested. "I'm sure they'll be asle—"  
"They're on their way." Pam put his device down on the table. "Now get in the bed."

"I…alright." James lay on the bed while Pam lay down next to him.

Soon, there was a knock on the door.  
"Come in!" Pam called out, and George with Georgina appeared.  
"We're here!" Georgina called out and suddenly noticed the couple on the bed. "Ohhh…" Her lips curled into a smile. "Dis is what you ask for? I comply!"  
" _I just realized she was French…"_ James thought stupidly, causing Georgina to giggle.  
"Uh wait!" He held his hands up. "I am very flattered that you are willing to do this but are you sure its okay?"  
Pam nodded. "After what you've been through tonight, you need a break. And I will allow Georgina to fondle you…for a while."

"I very well understand that you are straight as a line James." George added. "I will thus only massage you and take some care with Georgina."  
"How strange…" He muttered. "But okay. So can you release this hormonal imbalance or is it random?"  
"I'll handle that." Pam reached for the table and pulled out a small pink orb. She threw it at the ceiling and it exploded. Clear pink mist then clouded the room.

Immediately he could feel his hormones pumping. He relaxed and let his body to be enveloped by the arousal.  
Georgina licked her lips as she felt her top tightening again. She moaned as he skin pressed against the fabric.  
"Your breasts are growing…" James noticed. "Aren't you going to take-?"  
She shook her head. "Vhenever I feel ze sex in my body, my breasts grow a full cup size. I enjoy ze feeling so I do not care if my clothes rip. I also use it to arouse my partner."  
On cue, her shirt burst open and her breasts were exposed.  
At the same time, Pam straddled James and leaned into his face.

"Rip them James." She cooed sexily. "Rip them apart so I have nothing to wear after."  
That got his blood flowing. His hands shot out, grabbed her top, and tore it open exposing her own breasts.  
George then crawled behind him and started massaging his shoulders. He had stripped his shirt off before and was now bare-chested. Despite not being homosexual, James couldn't help but notice he looked good.  
Alcor had retreated into James's mind prior, so fantasies started flowing through his mind as the three converged onto him. Pam kissed his neck, Georgina rubbed his thighs, and George massaged his shoulders and back.

Moaning, James closed his eyes and tried to relax.

" _So much has happened today…"_ He thought. _"I found out I had a sister, we beat the Joker at Arkham, and I learned what happened to my memories in high school. God it's just so stressful I—ahh…"_

James felt Pam's lips pressing harder onto his neck as if saying "don't think anymore, just feel."

But while his thoughts and feelings of today's events started to fade away, he suddenly felt nervous. He had never taken part in such a naughty activity, as he was about to do now.

"Relax." George whispered from behind, while Georgina stripped her shorts off, leaving just her panties. Pam was already naked.

James suddenly couldn't help but stare. Both Pam and Georgina's bodies were perfect. Georgina had a young, curvy, and well-developed body, but Pam was mature, soft, and also well developed.

"God…" He moaned. "I want…to feel it."

Nodding, Pam reached down and pulled his pants and boxers off. He was now open to both George and Georgina.

"My, my." Georgina licked her lips. "My hips are quivering."

"Sometimes I wonder if I can take the whole thing." Pam added.

The words of encouragement were working, for James was flushing red and getting more turned on.

"You are a rarity James Davis." George said. "Revel in it. Don't shy away. Embrace it. I would like to see you and your woman as one tonight."

* * *

Blinking, James looked around and could see the new team all sleeping together on the bed. Chuckling, he looked up at the ceiling and thought about the events that transpired.  
 _"Joker...Arkham...Sister...high school...Abigail?"_ He thought to himself.  
"Don't start thinking about that yet." Pam stirred and slowly raised her head up to look at him.  
"Sorry..." James chuckled. "It's just that a lot has happened."  
"James." Georgina had woken up. "I hope ve' can do 'dat again sometime. Was it good?"  
"Of course!" James grinned. "That was amazing!"  
"I admit I enjoyed that." Pam grinned back. "But remember! These are rare times! Enjoy them while they're here because I am NEVER this open or tolerant."

"Well at least it wasn't Supergirl." He quipped.

"Don't…say…that…name…again." She warned. "Or you'll have to—"  
"You 'ave mated with Supergirl James?" Georgina asked inquisitively.  
He chuckled. "No no, but we know each other."  
"Know." Pam scoffed.  
Shaking his head, James spoke again. "So anyway, I was thinking about this for sometime, and I think I would like to go for it."  
"For what James?" George asked.

"Let's make a team." James announced finally.

 **Apologies for letting this and the last chapter take a while to go up. I realize that I've been focusing on this OC character a bit too much and not giving Batman and Co. enough time. Trust me, they all have big roles to play in this story. Anyway, more to come!**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Clues

"Breaking news from downtown Chicago!" A news reporter said. "Emily Correia, head lobbyist for the Fortune Sons Farming Company was found dead in the ghettos of leartown, a small neighborhood said to be among the poorest areas of Illinois."  
James shut the TV off. "Another murder. Definitely our killer."  
"How do you figure?" Joe asked. "The police just said—"  
"The police don't know that Emily Correia has had a target on her back for years." James interrupted. "Emily was one of the best lobbyists in Congress and she was the one who got the farm subsidies bill to be attached to the food stamp bill. I do know that she was big business's best weapon against any possible tax increases or regulations that were proposed in new bills. Emily worked for hundreds of Fortune 500 companies, and she made herself a huge enemy with pretty much everyone."

The new team of George, Georgina, Joe, Leslie, and James were gathered in James's apartment for their first team meeting. Pam had also attended, but chose not to get involved with the new team's activities.  
"Man, you must've already known her." Leslie scratched her head. "Well it definitely shows that you've been working with the Batman."  
"By far these murders are connected." George nodded. "But James, do you have any idea who this person might be?"  
"I don't." He shook his head. "And that's the problem. Even if I were to create a list of all the rich and powerful people who have been involved in many criminal activities, the list would be too long and extensive to be able to predict their next targets. What we need is a base of our own. Batman has his Batcave, Superman his Fortress of Solitude, so we'll need something too."

"Perhaps we 'ave to find somewhere outside of Gotham?" Georgina asked. "So no one vill find us?"

"I don't think we need to go that far." Joe answered. "How about this: James, I could start searching for potential abandoned places for us to set up some kind of base of operations?"  
James nodded. "Good plan. I'll leave you to it. In the meantime…Alcor, bring up a list of our dead."  
"So far we have three deaths." Alcor announced. "John Stevenson, Eugene Fredrickson, and Emily Correia. Each person had a history of white-collar crime. Each of them have crime histories that took place outside of the United States except for Fredrickson. Stevenson was caught with corruption and game rigging during the World Cup but did not admit to any wrongdoing. Fredrickson was caught raising insurance premiums illegally to taxpayers and robbed millions from them, however he did not admit to any wrongdoing either. Finally Emily Correia has a history of lobbying for not only Fortune 500 companies but some suspicious organizations including the mob."

"Suspicious organizations?" Leslie asked. "Who?"  
"According to records," Alcor projected a few pictures of deserts and groups of militants stationed in Africa. "Her husband, Ricardo Gullucci ran a sex-trafficking business in multiple countries such as Kenya, Malaysia, India, Mexico, and Guatemala just to name a few."

Everyone gasped.

"A sex-trafficking business!?" James gasped. "Good god! Where is he now?"  
"Dead." Joe said, looking up from his laptop. "6 years ago he was found dead in a Star Labs laboratory in Kenya."  
"A Star Labs laboratory? In Kenya?" Georgina questioned. "Of all the places, why there?"  
Alcor suddenly zoomed into Joe's computer and started running data through the projector on the wall.  
"A girl was apparently spotted in the laboratory." He answered. "There's not much though. Apparently anyone who was in the room when it took place either fled or was killed. But some are saying that that girl killed Gullucci."

"A girl?" James suddenly froze. "Joe! Alcor! Check the date of that news report! Do they say when it happened!?"

Quickly scanning the document, Joe nodded.  
"The incident took place May 11, 2009."  
"Six…years…ago…" He mouthed. "That girl…ANY IMAGES!?"  
Joe and Alcor looked, but Joe shook his head.

"None."

"Damn it!" James angrily pounded his night table. "That girl could be my sister! She might be alive! Any other information on that day?"  
Scanning the document, Joe nodded.  
"According to this Gullucci had a nickname: _El Silencio._ "  
"I've heard of him." Pam finally spoke. "I used to smuggle herbs and illegal plants into Gotham through him."  
Everyone turned to look at her. She quickly put her hands up defensively.  
"Before!" She insisted. "Back when I was Poison Ivy he was one of my providers that's all! He had that Spanish name because he was a sneaky yet powerful drug cartel that could smuggle substances in without being caught."

James was still shaking from the sudden revelation.  
" _This means Hanna might still be alive!"_ He thought. " _If only—"  
_ "Wait James." Georgina spoke. "What if this girl isn't your sister, but the killer?"  
His heart sank to his stomach. He hadn't thought of that.  
"Or what if it is his sister, but also the killer too?" Joe suggested darkly.  
"No!" James protested. "She can't! This is a cold-blooded killer! My sister was always kind and intelligent, and she would have no reason to commit these crimes!"  
"You can't rule it out James." Pam said sadly. "It fits the killer's motivations. It's possible that Emily was able to cover up her husband's sex-trafficking business with her political strings. Being one of the best on Capitol Hill has its benefits, and maybe your sister knew that and wanted revenge."

"But how could she kill Gullucci?" James asked desperately. "Gullucci is a very powerful man with connections to the criminal underworld!"  
"Remember where he was found James." Leslie explained. "Dead in a Star Labs facility. It's possible she could have found something to help her."  
"But that means she was trapped in a sex-trafficking ring all this time!?" James protested. "And Batman couldn't find her!?"  
"Hold on." Joe scanned the article again. "It says here the girl identified herself as "Lana. Sorry James, false alarm."  
He exhaled deeply. "Thank god it's not her."

"Well we don't know for sure yet." George said. Regardless, we may have a lead."  
"What vas your sister's name James?" Georgina asked curiously.  
"Hanna." He replied. "Hanna Davis."  
Leslie suddenly stood up. "James! I think I knew her once!"  
James gasped. "You did!?"  
"Can you get me a picture?" Leslie asked. "I knew a girl named Hanna but I want to be sure it's the same one.  
Nodding, James took out his Ari1 and showed her Hanna's prom picture.  
"Huh…" Leslie crossed her arms. "That's her, but she was much older."

His eyes widened. "That means you met her AFTER she was kidnapped! But how? Where did you meet her!?"

"I met her here James." She answered. "In Gotham University."  
Everyone gasped.  
"That's…not possible." Joe stammered. "If Hanna had escaped or gotten rescued and brought back to the United States, we'd know about it, and so would Batman."  
"Unless she didn't want to be found." Pam interjected.  
The room went silent. Everyone looked at the plant user who elaborated:  
"Whatever she went through those 6 years must've changed her." Pam said. "Whether she was raped, tortured, or either of the sort, we know that she would not be in the right state of mind if she returned home."

Just then, James's Ari1 beeped.

"James!" Alcor spoke alarmed. "Another death has been reported!"  
"I'm getting news as well!" George nodded, staring at his mobile device.  
Switching the TV back on, he now saw the Gotham News with a blond woman speaking.  
"This is Vicki Vale reporting live from North Gotham." She said. "A few minutes ago, the body of Stanley Jones was found in this alleyway with a message written in blood."  
Everyone gasped as the camera zoomed in on the message on the wall of the alleyway.

James looked closely and froze.  
The sign read:

 **NIGHTSHROUD COME FIND ME**

"He or She left a clue there for me." James said solemnly. "They want to meet me, or string me along. Whatever it is, I need to go decipher the message. I'm going to the alleyway."  
"No James!" Georgina protested. "It could be a trap!"  
"I don't have a choice." He shook his head. "If I don't go, I'll lose our only possible lead to catching this killer. It's possible that she's changing her pattern now. Instead of one death per day, it might increase to two. Or three. If that happens, then this killer's more dangerous than we thought seeing as they can snatch up these powerful people so easily."  
Pam walked up to him and touched his shoulder. "Be careful, this killer knows you." She said. "Don't go alone. It's likely it could be a trap."  
He gave her a nod. "I'll be careful."

* * *

James as Nightshroud floated down to the bloody message on the wall. By now, the police and the media had cleared out after word had gotten 'round about his impending arrival.  
He stared deeply at the message trying to find some kind of alternate meaning to it. After a few minutes, he suddenly noticed something odd.  
" _Why would she say "Nightshroud come find me instead of 'come and find me'?"_ He wondered.  
" _Perhaps her location can be revealed through these letters."_ Alcor suggested.  
He broke the words down into multiple groups, then thought back to some old memories.  
" _If this killer has a connection with me, then this message should point out a place I've been to in my lifetime while here in Gotham."_ James thought. " _Think…Video stores, shopping malls, grocery stores, movie theaters, restaurants…restaurants!"_

He soon had the first two words: Sight and Round

" _No…"_ James thought. _"It can't be the old restaurant?"  
_ But soon he had the last word:  
Dome  
He put the words together and got:  
Sight Round Dome  
" _The Sight Round Dome Diner."_ James concluded. _"It's a diner my family and I used to go for breakfast and occasionally dinner many times before it closed down. But I also…No…I used to take Abby there too!"  
_ "Shit…" James flew up to the roof of the building and dialed back to his apartment.  
"Everyone!" He called. "I found the location of the killer's diner! I'm heading over there now!"

"We'll join you!" Joe started but James replied immediately:  
"No! You don't have means to mask your identities yet." James said. "Stay there, I'll go myself. I'll stay in touch."  
He gulped. _"There's no doubt about it now. The killer is a she; even worse, it could be either my sister or Abby…"  
_ "There!" Nightshroud could see the rundown diner come into view in front of him. He landed and slowly pushed the door open.  
Looking around, he could see the diner was completely shot. Dust was everywhere, and tables with chairs and stools were bent out of shape. Looking around, he could see a door to the kitchens that he opened. Immediately he noticed the destroyed and abandoned cooking area with old utensils scattered on the ground.

" _Over there James."_ Alcor sent some Solarium to the corner of the room and saw a wall that looked out of place.  
" _This piece of the wall is newer than the other parts…"_ Nightshroud noticed.  
He felt around the wall until he touched a loose panel that he pushed. In front of him the wall suddenly opened, and a dark stairway appeared. The young student slowly descended down the stairs while using his Solarium as light.

Soon he came to a landing and saw a dimly let room with bloodstains and dust all over the place.

" _She must be here James, be on your guard."_ Alcor warned.  
Nodding, he looked and saw two doors; one on his left, and another on his right. Taking the right one, he opened it and saw a large puddle of blood along with some fragments on the floor.  
" _Human flesh…"_ Alcor said darkly.  
" _What!? Really!?"_ James thought, terrified.  
" _Don't lose your nerve. We've seen worse."_ He assured.  
" _Great…"_

Returning to the dimly lit room, he then readied into a battle position.  
" _Behind this door…might be either Abby or my sister…"_ James gulped. Gritting his teeth, he let out a large amount of energy and blasted the door to smithereens. Charging into the room he noticed he was standing in an office. Looking around quickly he noticed nobody was here.  
" _Alcor, any signs of life?"  
_ " _None."_ He replied. _"It looks like, this killer didn't want to meet us after all. Maybe she wanted us to find this place."  
_ " _She's long gone then…"_ James said, annoyed.  
Searching the room, he suddenly came across two pieces of paper. One paper had a poem on it, and the other had a list of crossed out names.  
"Oh my god…" James stared at the list in horror. "This list has NINE names!"  
"And they're all crossed out." Alcor added worriedly. "This means she's been ahead of us. She's already killed a lot more people than we realize."

Angrily, he pocketed the list and picked up the other paper.  
"No way…" James stared incredulously at the poem.  
"What is it James?" Alcor asked, confused.  
"I wrote this poem!" He said, shocked.  
"You did!?" Alcor was stunned. "Read it."

James sighed, and began:

 **The Cry of the Unfortunate**

 _The many days come a feeling_  
 _That life for many is unappealing_  
 _The pain, the toil, the loss of many_  
 _Of labor made for just a penny_

 _We look up we spot the people ahead_  
 _Those that have but rarely bled_  
 _They see the hell that lies in front_  
 _But the wealth of few shan't bear the brunt_

 _The world stretches and splits in two_  
 _And the few say to the many "adieu"_  
 _Thus the rage of penury becomes a flame_  
 _Against the wealth of few they are to blame_

 _When the flame dies, and ashes galore_  
 _The winds of change blow evermore_  
 _The thieves will burn and the victims will learn_  
 _that the world will turn and give them what they yearn."_


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Motives

"More and more am I sure that the killer is either Abby or Hanna." James said darkly, pocketing the poem. "And I don't like it."  
" _When was the last time you saw Abby?"_ Alcor asked.  
"It was the day I went insane and tried to destroy the school." James answered. "In fact that was the last time anyone saw her. Apparently everyone who witnessed my attack that day had his or her memories wiped too. However she never resurfaced. I was transferred to another high school and I finished my education there. Odd really…she disappeared around the same time Hanna did…"  
"That's no coincidence." Alcor said. "Whoever this killer is knows you very well and they've had their powers longer than you. The odds are stacked James."

"Whatever." He shook his head. "I'll find her."  
Looking around, he found a large TV screen in front of him. Searching for the remote, he clicked the device on.  
He looked and saw a dark figure speaking to one of the victims in the video.  
"That's Eugene Fredrickson!" James exclaimed.  
They listened as the mysterious figure read off Fredrickson's credentials and crimes:

" _Caught rigging multiple World Cup qualification rounds in 2010 and 2006, and was allegedly responsible for rigging the World Cup 2022 voting for Kasnia. The man was also accused for stealing billions of dollars from poor countries that hosted the event including Brazil, South Africa, Mexico—"  
_ " _Please stop!" Eugene interrupted. "I did not do any of that!"  
_ _The figure stopped. "How amusing. Even though you have blatantly committed many crimes you still claim innocence. I am no fool Eugene Fredrickson, and I have proof that you are the cause."  
_  
"Unbelievable." James shook his head. "Whoever she is, she's taking justice into her own hands and murdering all the people with the most dirt she could dig on and…wait that's it!"  
"Are you suggesting that we find the richest and most powerful people in the world with the worst criminal records and try to catch up to her before she kills another?" Alcor asked.  
"That's correct." James nodded. "She seems to be a very twisted anti-hero. I don't like to admit it, but the world is better off without them."  
"James!" Alcor scolded. "You cannot give legitimacy to this horrid creature! She has murdered these people in horrific manners and you just say that things are better now?"  
"You won't like what I'm about to say Alcor." James started. "But yes I do. All of these rich and powerful people that the killer has murdered to does help out others. I obviously wouldn't recommend killing to help others, but there is proof that what she did to John Stevenson and/or Emily Correia did have a more advantageous circumstance.

He checked John Stevenson's video and nodded again.

"Yep." James continued. "He's the one that killed the Family Needs For Benefits Act; the bill that Barbara wanted to get passed. Horrible."  
"James that is not a good mentality to have." Alcor warned. "By giving legitimacy to this killer, you're going to sink to their level."  
"No I won't." He argued. "That's going on the assumption that all villains are wrong about everything. But that's not true. Usually bad actions and crimes such as these can start with legitimate ideas. And like it or not, the world is better off without some of these crooks."  
Alcor sighed. "Perhaps."  
"Also." James added. "I'm going to need to make a judgment call. I've been thinking about it, and the string of killings as well as the victims do point to a certain agenda."  
"The man who was just killed, Stanley Jones, was a businessman who operated in the black market." Alcor explained. "Jones was a rich murderer in and outside of Gotham who did dealings with the mob and the League of Shadows. He was a very unstable man who believed that society was doomed to destroy itself and lead to the extinction of the human species."

"Man, I didn't think I'd find someone more pessimistic than me." James replied. "Regardless, we're finished here. We'll head back and report our findi—"

Suddenly, his eyes wandered to a manila folder on the ground. Picking it up, he dusted it off and opened it.  
Gasping, he saw a picture of _El Silencio_ dead in his room. The next picture was a picture of an unknown man dead in front of a large, shattered tube. The next picture shocked him most of all:  
It was a picture of a girl whom he had never seen before. The girl had jet-black hair, skin tone was pale, the weight much lighter, and her eyes were purple.  
"Oh god…" James muttered. "The killer is this girl Lana!"

* * *

"I don't like this." Bruce said to Alfred.  
"I do not either sir." The butler replied. "It appears that Quincy Sharp has taken all the credit for stopping the Asylum takeover."  
Bruce Wayne as Batman and Alfred were in the Batcave watching a news report coming out of city hall; Quincy Sharp, former warden of Arkham Asylum had just announced his campaign for Mayor.  
"That's not what bothers me." Bruce shook his head. "He recently just announced that the Blackgate penitentiary and the Asylum are no longer suitable to house criminal convicts. Also, that blueprint I found in the hidden office is deeply suspicious. I have a hunch I know what he's planning, but I cannot be sure. I'll need to look into this more."

Suddenly, the bat-computer started shorting out. Static started to cover the screen, which prompted Bruce to run a diagnostic.  
"What the…?" The billionaire quickly pressed a few buttons and suddenly an image of a hooded figure appeared on the screen.  
"Sorry to interrupt." An unrecognizable voice sounded. "But it is finally nice to meet the Dark Knight himself. Hello Batman."  
"What do you want?" Bruce asked irritated.  
"Ooh, testy are we today?" The figure replied. "Well no worries. It's unlikely you'll ever meet me, for it is another that I seek."

"…James."

"That is correct." The figure said. "You see, he and I share an interesting history. Now I'm sure you know who I am, but unfortunately he does not. And I'm sure I know what you're going to do. You're going to keep silent and let him figure it out. This is commendable, but perhaps a risk due to the people I target. Regardless, I'll be taking a little break for the next few months. I just simply cannot work with so many other variables in play at the moment. But I will leave this for you and 'Nightshroud': One body a day for the next 6 days. I already have those little piggies done with, so therefore these will just be my…leftovers. Goodbye, Dark Knight.  
With that, the screen returned to normal. Bruce sat back in his chair, still staring at the screen.  
"What does he mean, 'variables' sir?" Alfred asked. "Does he mean Quincy Sharp's plans?"  
"Most likely." Bruce gave him a nod. "From what I can gather, Quincy Sharp is planning to wall off a piece of Gotham City and turn it into a giant prison. Only convicts will live beyond that wall."

"How will he be allowed to pull that off?" A voice sounded from the top of the stairs.  
Looking, they saw Tim Drake dressed in his Robin garb standing there.  
"Hello Master Drake." Alfred said as Tim walked over to them.  
"Hey Alfred." He nodded. "So it's true then? He's going to go through with it?"  
"It is true." Bruce answered. "And he will get authorization because he'll likely win his mayoral campaign this year."  
"But you saved the Asylum! Not him!" Tim protested, but Bruce shook his head.  
"It doesn't matter Tim." He replied. "No one else was there at the Asylum when there was the breakout. Therefore, they can only go by what they hear there. Even though they know Batman was there, it's difficult to put Sharp in a negative light because there was little he could do. It was a well-planned breakout by the Joker and people are just going to run with that."  
"Speaking of the Joker, what happened to him afterwards?" Tim asked.

Just then, Max ran down the stairs and looked up at Alfred.  
"Oh Master Max, you're awake already? Come I'll make you something." He said taking his hand.  
Smiling, Max walked upstairs with him to the kitchen.  
"Joker returned to normal, but it looks like he's suffering from the Titan side effects." Bruce replied. "He took a full does of the Titan and now he's paying for it."  
"Sounds like problem solved then." Tim nodded.  
"Not quite. He's still very dangerous despite being weakened by the Titan." He said. "Regardless, he's not the main focus at the moment. First off, I've been analyzing Max's powers for the past two weeks. Cadmus seems to have implanted some of the powers from the Justice League into him. They must've collected some of our DNA whenever we were out fighting. It must've been easy for them.

"But according to this, none of the League's DNA is present in him." Tim looked at the supercomputer.

"True, but that's because Cadmus was able to separate the genetic codes of each leaguer with their abilities. It's a very rare science that is still in its infancy." Bruce said. "It's called Chromosomal Extrapolation."  
"Chromosomal Extrapolation?" Tim scratched his head. "You mean essentially separating chromosomes from their genetic potential?"  
"That's correct." Bruce answered. "All of us have genetic potential inside us that is part of our maturity. If you examined a person's chromosomes, you could pinpoint their genetic potential. Basically it means that this person could be tall despite their parents being short or vice versa, but it's not assured. In the case of the justice league DNA, Cadmus was able to separate Superman's super strength, Flash's super speed, and other powers and implant them into this child. Therefore, he'll have those powers but without their DNA."  
"Isn't that dangerous!?" Tim asked, alarmed. "With that science, you could steal the abilities of many people and create someone new! Not just with superpowers, but regular growth!"

"Now you see the problem." Bruce nodded. "Max would've the first of many super-soldiers created by Cadmus. Because they couldn't control him it's unlikely they'll try to make another. However that does not mean that Max is safe. Cadmus will still be hunting him, and we need to keep him safe. Otherwise, they'll have a very powerful weapon at their disposal."  
"But that still doesn't explain how Max could time travel." Tim crossed his arms, or is there a time traveling metahuman out there?"  
Bruce folded his arms. "You tell me."  
Tim sighed. "Alright there has to be one. And—"  
Suddenly, the batcomputer went off. They looked and could see Firefly torching the Gotham Bank.  
"Let's go." Bruce as Batman said.

* * *

"Lana?" Joe phoned in. "So there's a 3rd girl now?"  
"Yes." James answered on his Ari1. "She looks much different from either Abby or Hanna. I'm not sure it's completely accurate, but for now I'll have to drop both of them as suspects and start finding this new girl."  
James as Nightshroud flew high over North Gotham and looked down at the city streets. He could see the Gotham Police apprehending a few thugs near the alleyways in crime alley.  
"Alright then. I've sent coordinates to your mask." Joe said. "You and Alcor should head there. I found an old Ace Chemicals factory that was shut down decades ago. We could set up shop here because it's outside of Gotham. The others are on their way."

"Got it."

After a few minutes of flying, he could see the old Ace Chemicals factory sign had been taken down.

" _James, what about the ship?"_ Alcor asked. _"We used that ship in an aborted timeline, which means it's still sitting down there."  
_ " _I was just thinking the same thing."_ James thought. _"From this old factory to that hiding spot is a few miles, so I can manage."  
_ He landed on the front entrance of the factory and walked in. Looking around, he could see Joe sitting in front of a large desk with a projector on the far wall. Projected on the screen was the periodic table. But the table looked a little…modified.  
"Hey." Joe greeted as James switched back to his casual attire.  
"Hey pretty sweet." He nodded looking around the place. "Pretty huge setup, and I'm guessing there are other floors?"  
"Yep. Plenty of space for us." Joe replied. "But there are some areas that are cut off because of the radioactive waste that was left behind."

"I'll clear that out." James volunteered. "We need to refurbish this place anyway."  
Just then the main entrance opened up and George with Georgina arrived.  
"Cool." George looked around while Georgina walked over to them. Just then Leslie arrived.  
"I enjoy places such as this." Georgina said. "Iz nice and roomy."  
"Hey guys." Leslie soon joined them at the large desk. "Nice place."  
"Yeah, all we need is money." James laughed. "We'll need some sort of technology in here."  
"Well I'm all ears." Joe crossed his arms. "Find me 1 billion dollars and we're in business."

"Well…" James reached into his pocket and pulled out a Moneyball lottery ticket.

"James…what did you do?" Leslie asked suspiciously.  
He shrugged. "Nothing, looking for some luck. Mind switching it over to the local news station Joe?"  
Shaking his head, Joe flipped it over to Local News 12.  
"Welcome to your Wild Money numbers! Brought to you by—"  
"Yeah yeah whatever just get to it." James said annoyed.

And today's lottery numbers are: 4, 9, 11 25, 33, and 57!" The woman next to the machine said. "Thanks for playing!"

Joe shut the projector off and faced James.  
"James…" Leslie asked annoyed. "Did you…give me that ticket!"  
She snatched it out of his hands and the numbers aloud.

"Hey!" James replied angrily. "Calm down! I didn't—"

"4, 9, 11, 25, 33, and 57." Leslie read, stunned.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: A Good Man Does A Crime

Everyone turned to stare at James.  
"Well I—"  
" _Did you switch the lottery numbers!?"_ Joe asked, confounded.

"No." James shook his head. "Let me explain:

I was at a convenience store yesterday before I found the killer's lair. I noticed that someone had bought a lottery ticket there. It was for a big jackpot, one of the largest in Moneyball history. However this guy was being a real jerk to everyone. He was insisting that he had the winning ticket and that he was going to do these things with it. He was gonna buy a car, a jet, a yacht, an island, and move away from and I'm quoting here "this f—king country and its lame ass high taxes and sh—ty government." The guy then went on a tirade about "moochers, lazy Americans, and the elite" and all this crap. So I bought my own ticket and 'accidentally' bumped into him and knocked him over. In the confusion, our tickets got switched and I ended up with his. And then today, I'm here."

Everyone sat there stunned as James finished his story.  
"You know that could've easily backfired." George said. "What if the ticket YOU bought was the winning one and his was the losing one?"  
"Easy. I manipulated the lottery balls on the show."  
Everyone groaned.  
"So you _did_ switch the numbers." Leslie said finally.  
"No! I just hacked the machine from my Ari1 and had it spit out the numbers I wanted." James insisted. "Big difference."  
"But why switch ze' tickets then?" Georgina asked.  
"To teach the bastard a lesson, isn't that right James?" Joe figured.

He nodded. "Hey the guy was out of control. He's now either at home contemplating suicide or—"  
"Alright enough." Joe interrupted. "Just out of curiosity James, how much was the winning jackpot?"  
"$625 million." James revealed.  
"WHAT!?" Leslie exclaimed. "That guy probably is gonna kill himself! Or you if he ever finds you!"  
"Uh James…?" Joe asked. "Who's gonna pick up the jackpot? This is an enormous sum, and it's likely you'll have a target on your back if you went yourself."  
" _He's right James."_ Alcor said. _"You are going to need a disguise first and then you can go pick up the jackpot, but that won't be enough as you'll need to store this money."_

"Hmm…" James pondered for a moment, and then spoke.

"Simple." He spoke. "We'll disguise one of us, and we'll also set up multiple bank accounts. I was already planning to split the money with you guys, but I'm planning to use my share to buy equipment for our new base. So—"  
"Ah no." Leslie interjected. "Keep the money. That's dirty money and I'm not getting tangled into that."  
"I feel ze same way." Georgina nodded.  
"Same." George agreed.  
"I'll use some of the money as well." Joe said. "However we can't use all of it. I suggest we invest. Then we'll have far more to use later hopefully."  
"That's a good plan." James nodded. "And since your brain runs faster than anyone on this planet, then I think it's a sure bet you should take the reins here."  
Joe chuckled. "My brain's not that fast."

James scoffed. "Really? Want me to test you again?"  
"Go for it."  
"152 times 33."  
"5,016

"226126 divided by 25."  
"9,045.04"

"Describe the composition of Glucose."  
"C6 H12 O6."

"I think you'll do just fine on the Stock Market." James folded his arms.  
Leslie sighed. "All right then. At least we can start renovating this place."  
"Yeah and—"  
Suddenly, James's Ari1 rang. Curious, he took it out and read it was a video call from unknown.  
"Yeah I'm not answering that—"  
"Hello James."  
He gasped and looked at the screen again. He saw a figure with her face hidden by the hood wearing a black robe.  
"Hey I didn't answer—"  
"I know you didn't. I did." The figure replied. "I'm guessing you know who I am?"

"Lana."

The figure paused for a moment, then nodded.  
"Correct." She said. "I'm betting you're wondering how I reached your communications? Well that doesn't matter right now. What really matters is who we are."  
Everyone stayed silent as James replied.  
"And that is?"  
"Let's just say that I've had a particular interest in you for a long time. I've noticed your Solarium powers and I have…knowledge of your abilities."  
"How is that?" James asked angrily. "You and I have never met!"  
"Oh?" Lana questioned. "Are you sure?"

"Well I—"

"Maybe you should do your research." She interrupted. "Because I know all about you."  
"I know your name, and I know what you went through." James answered. "And what's with the secrecy? I've seen how you look like and—"  
Lana suddenly stood up and spat angrily.  
"You have NO IDEA what I went through!" She growled. "If you felt what I felt all those years ago, you would've joined me."  
"Yeah right." James shook his head. "You're insane. You—"  
Suddenly Lana laughed. "Call it what you want, but it's justice. There are so many people who ruined me, and all I'm doing is repaying them. Besides, I bet you would agree that the world is better off without them."

"I'm not playing that game." James said angrily. "Even if that was true, killing them will only make things worse."  
Just then Lana laughed again. " _Worse!?_ You have no idea how the system works do you James? I thought you were supposed to be a Political Science major!?"  
"Don't question what I know." James spat out. "Unlike you, I actually did my research. You only murdered your way through."  
"Is that so?" Lana challenged. "Then how about we fight and see if you're right?"  
"Fighting won't make me anymore right or wrong." He argued. "You're like the bully who attacks people for not agreeing with him. If you really are one searching for justice, then you should quit acting like the ones you are hunting."

"You cannot compare me to them." Lana stood up. "The difference is that I know my place. I know facts. I know truth. I am beyond the fools that run this country and this planet; plus, I bet you think yourself as the same way."  
James scoffed. "Don't bother comparing me to you, it won't work."  
"Really?" Lana crossed her robed arms. "Then it wasn't you who rigged the lottery today?"  
He blinked, unable to contain his shock. "He was asking for it."  
"Exactly. He was." Lana smiled under her hood. "And I am following that principle to the best of my ability. Have you read my poem?"  
"You mean _my_ poem?" James shot back.

She chuckled. "Ah so you know. That must give you a clue in who I am right?"  
"Red herring." James growled. "Only two girls would know that poem existed, and they're both still missing."  
"Don't be so sure they'd be the only ones." Lana replied. "And don't be so sure that they're both missing."  
"What?" James gritted his teeth. "You're telling me that you're one of them?"  
"Now now James you're smarter than that." Lana chuckled again. "Guess again."

"You have them captured!?"  
"…Possibly."  
"Where…is…my…sister!?" James shouted.  
Lana was silent for a moment, then spoke.  
"Dead."  
"And I'm supposed to believe that!?" He yelled in a rage.  
"You want proof? Here." Lana reached off screen and held up an item. James gasped and nearly dropped his Ari1.  
"No…NO!" James shouted. "SHE'S NOT DEAD!"

Joe and Leslie looked. In Lana's hand was Hanna's class ring.

"Where…did…you…get…that!?" James's grip on the Ari1 was tightening.  
"Let's just say that I met the sorry bitch in Africa." Lana smiled. "She was cold and afraid. She had just been taken away after spending the night with her friends. One day she's in America, the next she's in Uganda. Scary trip is it not? Well after I met her she told me her story and I really couldn't care less—"  
As she spoke, James was getting angrier and angrier. Alcor soon intervened.  
" _James! Keep calm!"_ He begged. _"She's trying to make you lose control! If you hold the Ari1 any tighter you'll break it!"  
_ Shaking his head for a moment, he relaxed his grip on the phone, but he was still enraged.

"So I plucked his little trinket from her before she was to be auctioned off while pretending to be shot dead." Lana said. "It's pretty. So why not take it?"

"Where…are…you!?" James barked. "When I find you…I will kill you."  
"I don't think you will." Lana grinned. "You see, you've had those powers for barely a year, and I've been training with mine for 6 years. I think you can see where I'm going with this."  
"How can you be so sure if you never fight me?" James questioned. "Besides, someone like you has nobody to train with. You are alone with no friends, no family, and no real masters. So technically, you're unproven. Fight me, and I'll show you how much you don't know."  
"Ooh. A challenge is it?" Lana continued to grin. "Why not settle this in the place where you received your powers? How about the old abandoned and burned out factory where you not only gained your Solarium, but also where you fought Nero?"  
James gritted his teeth. _"So she knows about Nero now huh? Fine then."_

"Deal."

"No James you must not!" Georgina protested. "Iz vot she vants!"  
"Listen to her James." Joe added. "If she's been training with her powers for longer than you have, then you will be at a disadvantage."  
"So you say." James shook his head as he walked towards the exit.

"You underestimate me. I'll fight her and I'll win."

* * *

James as Nightshroud floated down to the wreckage of the old factory. He remembered the first time he was here when the black van dumped him here with the Mad Hatter and Penguin. He also thought back to the time when Nero nearly destroyed him had it not been for Pamela Isley's help.

"So you made it." Lana's voice sounded.

He quickly turned around, and saw Lana wearing a black robe with gold designs around the edges. She was still hiding her face from him.  
"So I finally get to meet you." Lana folded her arms. "So are you gonna prove me wrong then?"  
"I'll do more than that." Nightshroud replied darkly. "I'll destroy you."  
She laughed. "Then come at me."  
While she was speaking, Nightshroud had already closed the distance between them. But he suddenly slammed into a red barrier.  
"Surprised?" Lana grinned. "Well my powers _are_ pretty potent."

Just then, the barrier exploded in front of him, forcing him backwards. Nightshroud quickly rebounded and fired a large blast of Solarium at her, but it was blocked by another barrier.

"Energy armor." She explained. "Multiple layers of pure energy are surrounding me at this moment. They block all attacks and can regenerate after some time. Unfortunately for you that means you're out of luck."  
She snapped her fingers, and the ground beneath Nightshroud exploded, sending him into the air. Lana suddenly materialized above him.  
"Remember this James?" She smiled. "This is the very move Nero did to you that nearly killed you. Let's see if you can handle it this time."  
More red energy flew up from the ground towards him. Nightshroud attempted to use his own Solarium to block it, but the red energy pierced through it and smashed into him, sending him higher into the air. Lana then reappeared above him and used her fists to smash down onto his stomach. He cried out in pain and hit the ground with terrifying force causing a shockwave.

Immediately, Nightshroud flew out of the ground with full speed at Lana. He slammed into her barrier but this time managed to shatter it, forcing her back.

"Not bad." Lana flew around him. "One barrier down. 9 more to go. You know, since your powers are called Solarium, my powers are based on molecular energy. So perhaps I'll call it "Kinetium."  
Laughing, she raised her finger and Nightshroud suddenly dodged downwards as a hailstorm of red energy flew over him.  
" _She's tough. Really tough."_ James thought.  
" _She's very powerful James."_ Alcor said. _"I'm reading her energies. She's very well focused and concentrated. Maybe you could break that concentration?"  
_ Lana suddenly charged at him, when Nightshroud did something unexpected.

"You know." He started. "Why didn't you just stay in Africa?"

She stopped. "What?"  
"There's nothing for you here." Nightshroud/James said. "Honestly there was really no point in you coming back here."  
She blinked. "What did you say!?"  
"There must've been a reason why you were gonna be sold away into sex slavery, and that's because nobody cared for you here." James folded his arms. "Usually girls who are captured and sold this way are usually disconnected with their families and have nothing really to live for. In reality—"  
Suddenly, a blast of red energy struck him in the stomach. He flew backwards into one of the old buildings near the factory and crashed. Shaking off the dust, he quickly flew back outside.  
He could see her hands shaking. She was losing her usual calm demeanor.

"What the fuck does that mean!?" Lana spat angrily. "You're trying to say—"

"I'm trying to say this." James interrupted. "You being captured was nothing special. And to be honest, I really don't care."  
Screaming in rage, she let loose a powerful blast of red energy directly at him, in which James dodged easily.  
"You…hideous…bastard." Lana yelled. "How heartless can you—"  
"How heartless can _I_ be?" He yelled back. "I'm not the one committing random murders and taking that as justice! You wanna know what I think of you after learning your story? You're a sorry bitch who wants to be noticed. You acquired these powers somehow and now you're showing them off. You're needy, and it's pathetic!"  
More energy flew by him, forcing James to dodge rapidly before floating closer to her.

" _She's losing control…but I'm not sure—"_ Solarium started, but James didn't pay attention.

"So what does that make you?" He started, looking at the furious girl in front of him.  
"You are a whore."  
 _"That was very misogynistic what you just said there!"_ Alcor scolded.  
Just then, red energy started flying around him. He flew upwards but suddenly slammed into another barrier.  
He looked and saw Lana laughing.  
"I know what you were trying to do." She started. "You were trying to break my concentration, but that won't work. Even if I'm enraged I can still control my powers better than you!"

James looked around him and saw he was encased in a red ball of energy. Firing his Solarium did nothing to penetrate the barrier.  
She laughed again. "My you are similar to me! That was one of the harshest, sexist, and most heartless insults I've ever heard anyone say. Now then…"  
Suddenly the large encasement of energy started to shrink. Nightshroud was having difficulty trying to keep it expanded.  
"Let me tell you how your sister died." Lana smiled. "I saw her about to be sold into sex slavery and I took her class ring as you know. But I said a few things to her as well before then."  
Nightshroud struggled to keep the energy encasement open while she spoke.  
"I went up to her and I whispered in her ear: You're fucked." Lana said. "She was barely wearing any clothes, and she was going to be auctioned off to the highest bidder, who then will probably rape her or make her cook for him or both."  
Nightshroud/James could feel his blood angrily pumping in his veins, but the barrier was still taking all his energy to leave open.

"I laughed at her pathetic sight." Lana continued to smile. "I thought: someone as weak as that doesn't deserve to go home. Let those shitty people serve their lives in a shitty country; it'll be perfect for them!"  
Lana snapped her fingers, and James screamed loudly as his arms finally broke from holding the barrier up. They fell limp to his side, and his legs were next.  
"As for me?" Lana continued. "I hoped he made her his. I hoped that he annihilated her so much that she'd commit suicide when she wants to. Natural Selection will do its job then."  
James's blood was boiling. Rage was taking over his body, but he suddenly cried out in pain again as his legs finally broke from the pressure. He fell to the bottom of the barrier still closing on him.  
"Aw…does that hurt?" Lana floated close to him. She could hear more bones crack and James screamed in pain.  
"And one hell of a slut she became believe you me." She grinned. "Every handler wanted her from the beginning. So what did they do? They shared her! They took her to the presidential palace and just gang-banged her. They could go there because the President was in on the sex trafficking! He was bribed to look the other way and sometimes he even took part!

More bones cracked, and James screamed more which prompted Lana to move to the best parts.

"Oh and by the way, this barrier you're in gets smaller and smaller every time your rage is provoked. So you won't last much longer." Lana explained. "Anyway, they shared her and you know what happened next?"  
James yelled out in pain.  
"They SHOT her!" Lana burst out laughing. They fucked her and then shot her like a whore on the streets of Gotham! So she still got the American treatment without being there!"

CRACK.

The barrier suddenly disappeared, and James's broken body fell down to Earth. He smashed into the ground and lay there motionless as Lana floated down to him.  
"Yep, definitely dead." She smiled and turned to walk away.  
Just then, a powerful blast of rage energy tore through her back and out her chest. Stunned, she slowly turned around and saw James standing as Nightshroud but with red eyes. She could see his teeth had bared into fangs and his body become more animalistic.  
"I'll…kill…you…" James growled, and he let out a powerful animalistic roar that shattered nearby glass windows.  
"H-h-h-how!?" She coughed and blood spilled out of her mouth. "All…your bones…"

Lana could see blood leaking from his mouth as Nightshroud readied his position. And suddenly with a roar he charged forward like an animal.

"I WILL END YOU!" Nightshroud roared as his mouth opened toward her head…

 **How interesting...What we've seen now is another side of James beginning to manifest here. First he finds Lana's kill list and doesn't feel remorseful towards who she killed (despite denying it to Lana herself), then we see his overconfidence nearly kill him, and now misogyny? He may have done it to provoke his enemy but damn...how harsh. And now his rage energy has returned in full force. What is happening to young James? Find out next time!**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Control

Nightshroud slashed his hand through her armor and onto her skin, sending warm blood into the air and causing her to scream out in pain.  
" _He broke through all TEN BARRIERS!?_ " Lana thought, astonished. _"HOW!?"  
_ The dark warrior then grabbed her neck and punched her hard in the face, sending her flying towards the ground and into the same crater he had fallen into.  
" _JAMES! STOP!"_ Alcor protested, but he ignored him.  
" _Shut it Alcor!"_ James screamed. _"I'll show her what happens when you murder my family!"_

Lana slowly stood up from the crater but was suddenly grabbed again by Nightshroud.

"I had never thought about it." He spoke in a voice not his own. "But I wonder if I could leak my energy into you…I've tried to murder before, but the Bat stopped me. But you know what? He's not here."  
He slammed her into a concrete wall in front of the burned down factory. Her hood came undone and revealed her bloodied face as she coughed up blood and looked into Nightshroud's now demonic red eyes.  
"Let me…show you what I went through in this very spot." He grinned.

Suddenly, he placed both of his hands on either side of Lana's face.  
"W-what are you doing!?" She cried out.  
Solarium started to seep through the destructive girl's forehead. She then started screaming loudly as the world around her changed. She blinked and saw she was tied to a wooden pole. Around her the world was burning, the sky was red, and in front of her was an army of shadows facing her. Each figure was shadowy black with white eyes.  
Suddenly, a pillar of flames erupted around her. She screamed as the flames started melting her skin. More and more her skin melted as blood started to drain from her face.

"STOP! STOP! PLEASE STOP!" Lana screamed.

Just then, Nightshroud appeared in front of her.  
"Stop being a pussy." He burst out laughing. "I thought you had a plan? I thought you knew how things worked? I thought you were going to change everything."  
"You…are…INSANE!" Lana replied, angrily.  
Nightshroud grinned. "I'll take that as a compliment. Now then, I think it's time we ended your pathetic existence. What do you think everyone?"  
"Death! Death! Death!" They chanted.  
Nightshroud filled his right hand with red Solarium and reared it back.  
"So what if I never figure out who you really are?" He chuckled. "You'll be dead. That's all that matters."

With a roar he plunged his hand towards her chest. Gasping, she shut her eyes and braced for impact, but it never came.  
Suddenly she stopped feeling the flames, and she opened her eyes.  
"LET ME FINISH HER!" Nightshroud screamed out. "I'M SO CLOSE!"  
"No." The voice replied. "You've crossed the line. Stop now."  
Lana looked, and saw Batman with his back turned to her.  
" _I…can't…move…"_ She moaned. _"He invaded my brain with his Solarium and created an illusion…but it felt all too real…"_

Forcing herself to move, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a remote.

"You cannot stop me in this form Batman!" Nightshroud flew at him, but the Dark Knight suddenly did a side flip, which made him fly underneath him. At the same time, he fired his grappling hook as he passed. It clung to his neck and stopped him in midflight, sending him to the ground.  
" _We'll meet again…James…Nightshroud."_ Lana thought as she pressed a button on the remote. Her long-range teleporter tracked her location and beamed her out of the factory ruins.  
"NO!" Nightshroud fired a blast of red Solarium to where Lana was a moment before she disappeared.  
"God damn it! I HAD HER!" Nightshroud angrily punched the ground, leaving another crater.  
Batman lunged at him and placed a patch over his chest.

"W-what are you doing!?" Nightshroud/James protested as the red energy started to disappear. His fangs changed back into regular teeth, his red eyes returned to his traditional hazel, and his red Solarium turned blue again.  
"No…no…no…" James fell to his knees and covered his face. "I lost control again…I don't even know how many times I've lost it. God I can't handle this…"  
"You're lucky I don't throw you in prison James." Batman scolded. "Get out of here. Now."  
Nodding, James as Nightshroud quickly flew high into the air and disappeared into the night.  
Sighing, Batman looked around at the destruction the two of them caused.

" _This is just the beginning for those two…"_ He thought. _"James still doesn't know who Lana really is…and when he does…"_

He pressed a button on his wrist and the Batmobile screeched through the debris and stopped next to him. He jumped into the front seat and drove off.

* * *

"James!" Pam exclaimed. "What happened?"  
Pam had gone to the old Ace Chemicals factory after Joe had filled her in on the details about Lana. Everyone else had gone home leaving just the three of them.  
"I…lost control again…" He replied sadly. "I just can't control my temper when I'm in battle. I—"  
"You say that but it hasn't happened much since Brainiac's attack." Pam assured. "Look, you just found out about the fate of your sister. That would drive anyone mad."  
"But I tried to psychologically torture Lana with my powers!" James insisted. "I tried to destroy her mind instead of killing her so she'd feel the effects for longer! I mean it's a f-cked up—"

"Once again, you learned a startling revelation James." Joe interrupted. Don't assume that you have no control over your anger. It's true that you've had really bad experiences with it but you are better now than you were then."  
"I…guess so." James replied.  
"Alright come now." Pam grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the Ace Chemicals exit. "You're spending the night with me this time. Joe, I take it you're handing the renovation of this place?"  
"Uh…yeah I am!" Joe stammered. "Just go James, you need to take your mind off of this."

* * *

Pamela Isley lay on her large bed and placed James's head on her chest.  
"Rest." She insisted. "Don't think about anything. Don't think about what happened today, why it happened, or whom you've met. Just think of me and sleep."  
Pam and James were settling into James's apartment as the clock struck 1 a.m.  
"Luckily it's Saturday morning." James muttered, depressed. "Cause I would be in no shape to wake up or go to class today."  
"Well forget about it." Pam insisted. "You're here with me now."  
A tear went down James's eyes as he snuggled up closer to the plant user.

"At least I won't need to live in this apartment anymore." He said tearfully. "That money could serve us well."

"I'd rather you handle that James." Pam warned. "I may no longer rob banks as Poison Ivy, but that doesn't mean I'm suddenly a Girl Scout who wants justice for all. I do still have my tendencies, and those aren't going away."  
"You're right about that." James said. "But still, you are in a better place now then before."  
"True." Pam kissed the young student's head. "Goodnight."  
"Goodnight Pam."

* * *

 _In an Unknown Location…_

Lana sat down in front of her supercomputer and opened up footage of the battle. She was having trouble sitting still as her hands shook. The dark-haired girl gritted her teeth as she felt her ribs.  
" _All broken…"_ She thought. _"No one was ever able to penetrate my barriers like he did…let alone nearly smash me to bits…"  
_ But she could not help but think back to the illusion James had subjected her to; burning alive…skin melting…it felt real.  
" _How did he do it!?"_ Lana thought, alarmed. _"He shattered me not only physically, but almost mentally. I'm still shaking from the aftermath…Rage energy? I never knew he still had it. I know he fought Nero but…"  
_ She put her hands together and enveloped herself in purple energy. The kinetium flew around her body and healed the wounds she sustained in the battle. Soon she was completely healthy.

" _I must still continue with the plan."_ Lana thought. _"I'll set it in motion at the right moment. For now, one body for the next six days."  
_ She reached for a piece of paper and read off the names:  
"Jacob Simonson…Madison Adams…Zach Mosart…Drew Herney…"

* * *

 **SIX MONTHS LATER**

James sat in his apartment, depressed over the recent news that Pamela Isley had broken to him. Next to him, Max was laying on his shoulder. He thought back to the conversation he had with her in the greenhouse an hour ago:

" _James." Pam walked up to him.  
_ " _Yeah Pam?" He answered.  
_ " _There's something I need to tell you." She started.  
_ _He turned to her worried. "What's wrong?"  
_ " _Remember when you went to the future?" Pam asked. "Remember when you met my older self and our daughter there?"  
_ " _Yeah I do. Why?"  
_ " _And also after that I neglected to take my pill so we could make it happen?"  
_ "… _Yeah…"  
_ _Pam sighed. "I'm not pregnant."  
_ " _W-What!? You aren't? How come?" James asked, shocked.  
_ " _I don't know." Pam shook her head. "I guess since that was an aborted timeline…it was only by chance."_

 _James sighed sadly. "It's okay Pam. We'll have other chances. I mean we—"  
_ " _But James…" Pam started. "That means she won't grow up with Max—"  
_ " _Well we don't know that for sure." He said. "You never know, since your metabolism has started to slow down, it could be anytime!"  
_ _Pam looked at him, and nodded.  
_ " _True." She answered. "I'm sorry James. I—"  
_ " _Hey don't worry." He shook his head. "Maybe this is for the best. Remember, I'm a target right now, so you giving birth now would put you and the child in danger."  
_  
"I guess it was not to be." James muttered.  
" _You hit it right on the head earlier James."_ Alcor spoke. _"Since this Lana character is still out there, if she ever caught wind of Pam being pregnant…"  
_ " _She'd immediately try to kill her."_ James finished _. "Yeah that's true."  
_ Max looked up at him opened his mouth and closed it as if trying to say something.  
James looked it him curiously.  
"Max?" He asked. "Something wrong?"

The child looked at him and opened his mouth again, but no sound came out.

" _I think he's trying to speak James…"  
_ The student jumped off the bed and faced the child.  
"Okay." James nodded. "M-A-X. Max."  
He then pointed at him to show it was his name. The boy nodded as if to say, "I know."  
" _Alcor why can't he speak?"  
_ " _Let's look."_

James eyes turned a dark shade of blue as he scanned the boy's body for any irregularities. His eyes suddenly stopped as his throat.  
" _What the…?"  
_ " _His vocal cords are dead."_ Alcor answered. _"This must've been Cadmus to keep him from communicating."  
_ " _Bastards…but why didn't Bruce catch it? He's been running tests on him for months."  
_ " _He must've already known."_ He replied. _"Fixing someone's voice is a risky business. You could damage more then just their diaphragm if you get it wrong."_

" _Let's try."  
_ " _Are you certain?"  
_ " _Yes. I've been studying my own Solarium for some time now. I found out that there is a method of cellular regeneration. I've been in contact with Dr. Leslie Tompkins as you know and she's told me some of the tests she's run with a sample of Solarium I sent her."_

" _Sounds like a plan. Let's do it."_ Alcor agreed finally.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: A Higher Power?

"Go slow James." Alcor warned. "You know the risks."  
Nodding, the young fighter placed his hands on either side of Max's throat. The child stood nervously still as Solarium slowly started to move into his body.  
The energy slowly covered the dead vocal cords and started to regenerate its cells.  
"So far so good." James said. "The Solarium is regenerating his cells."  
"Good." Alcor replied. "I'm keeping track—"

"AHH!"

Suddenly, James was blasted backwards into the wall. Groaning, he slowly stood up as Max ran up to him and took his hand.  
"What happened?" He asked.  
"Cadmus seems to have known you would try to fix his voice." Alcor answered, annoyed. "They've put an antimatter barrier around his dead vocal cords in order to keep your Solarium away."  
"Joy. So they have found a way to neutralize it." James groaned again. "We'll need some outside help."  
"Indeed we will." He agreed. "For now, we'll leave it alone."

James sat down on his bed and looked up at the ceiling.

"This sucks!" He spat, frustrated. "Lana is killing all of these huge figures one at a time and for what!? I can't seem to find a connection between any of them! I mean Eugene Fredrickson was part of the World Soccer Federation; John Stevenson was part of the Lifeline Insurance Company, Emily Correia was a lobbyist! Stanley Jones was a powerful rich murderer!"  
Sighing, he sat up and looked at this night table. He could see some dollar bills and change left over there from his last meal. Grabbing a dollar, he looked at the back.  
"Man." James sighed. "I need to get a job. Even with the lottery winnings I don't feel comfortable with it. God now I know how everyone else felt…"  
His eyes suddenly fell on the eye of providence on the left side of the bill.  
"One hell of a thing to get all nuts about." James muttered. "Eye of Providence. Sounds like junk food for conspiracy theorists."

"It was also once associated with the Freemasons." Alcor added. "Although many masonic groups have denied the connection."  
Just then, he leaped out of his bed with an epiphany.  
"Wait a minute…" James started. "Each of these murders…were connected to Lana's supposed capture and selling into sex slavery as she said. What if…these victims are actually part of a large organization?"  
"It's certainly possible." Alcor answered. "Maybe there is some sort of symbol on their person. I'm going to access and GCPD victim photos and transfer them to the Ari1."  
Nodding, James removed his mobile device and projected the images onto the wall. Suddenly, he could see a tiny black symbol on each victim's shin.  
"How the hell did we miss this!?" He slapped his forehead in surprise. "Zoom in!"  
After Alcor zoomed the picture in 30 times, they could see a tattoo was present.

Each picture showed that all the victims had the same tattoo on their right shin. The symbol looked like an N with a W underneath; a large circle surrounded both letters.  
"Cross-check that symbol with a relevant organization." James ordered.  
"Cross-checking all known cults, religious groups, and organizations now." Alcor spoke as thousands of images flew across the screen.  
Suddenly, a news article with the large chalk-drawn image of the symbol appeared on the screen.  
"This is a Gotham Times news article from May 1, 2009." Alcor answered.  
"May Day, and the same month Hanna disappeared." James nodded. "That can't be a coincidence."  
"Indeed." He replied. "The article states that this symbol was found in the Diamond District on a wall in an alleyway near city hall. The times reported that a few hours after this symbol was found, an explosion ripped through the top floor of the hall and killed 22 people. Apparently they call themselves N.O.S. It is an abbreviation of _Novus ordo seclorum_ also known as—"

"New World Order in Latin." James finished. "Oh lord…it looks like we're dealing with something much bigger than we thought."

"An organization with such a name is not one to be taken lightly." Alcor agreed. "According to the article, a list was leaked to the internet which exposed some of the members of N.O.S. What's more, some of these names…I think you know where I'm going with this."  
James nodded. "Some of those names are our victims?"  
"So far, all of our victims are on this list." Alcor confirmed. "Which means this organization is very powerful. Having such rich and influential people on this list scares me."  
"This list has been moved and updated several times in the 6 years since." James noticed. "Are others taking notice of this? If so, we need to find them. Let's head over to our base and let our team know."

* * *

"Novus Ordo Seclorum?" Joe asked. "Sounds like an organization that means business."  
"Dis is good though!" Georgina insisted. "Now ve know Lana's list!"  
George nodded. "How many victims?"  
After James dropped Max off at the Batcave, he and Alcor quickly called the rest of his team to the Ace Chemicals factory.  
"Nine." Leslie said reading the list. "There are 20 names on this list, and nine are dead. That leaves 11."  
Joe suddenly gasped. "Wait a minute, Zach Mosart our state senator is on this list!?"

James whipped around and read the list.

"Yeah he is!" Leslie exclaimed, shocked. "B-but why is he in this organization!? And he's not dead! I was just watching him on TV earlier today!"  
"Not good." James folded his arms. "Lana hasn't attacked in 6 months. She said that there are 'so many other variables in play at the moment' according to Batman. He might be her target. We need to get to him quickly!"  
Nodding, they decided to split up and go to the city hall to find Senator Mosart's office. Quickly switching to his Nightshroud attire, James flew at full speed and arrived there in a flash. He flew through a grate on the roof and crawled through the ventilation shaft.  
"Alright James." Alcor spoke. "I've downloaded the schematics for Gotham City Hall. Since we're at the top, you need to go down to the Southwest corner of the building. Take a left here."  
Complying, he looked through the vent and could see Senator Mosart pacing around the room talking on his cell phone.

" _Say James…"_ Alcor suggested. _"I noticed his shadow. Have you ever thought of hiding in there?"  
_ " _Hide in his shadow?"_ James wondered. _"How?"  
_ " _If you can use your Solarium to phase into his shadow, you'll become a part of it. You'll be hiding in the darkness from the ground but you'll see him. Think about it like hitching a ride on a convoy."  
_ " _Ooh, I like the sound of that. Okay, I'll try."_

He grabbed the grate and slowly pulled it into the shaft with him. Then he watched as Senator Mosart continued to pace around the room. Suddenly, he stopped with his back turned.

" _Now!"_

Nightshroud silently flew downwards into the floor and dropped into Senator Mosart's shadow.  
" _Wow this is comfy!"_ Nightshroud thought. _"It's like I'm laying down on a moving bed."  
_ " _Luxurious."_ Alcor played along. " _But also the perfect hiding spot. It looks like Senator Mosart is safe for now, but we need to see if we can gather anymore information here."  
_ " _I'm gonna listen in."_ Nightshroud thought.  
"Yes I know the committee is delaying the vote." Senator Mosart said. "The Majority Whip is telling me that I should reintroduce the bill to the floor and hopefully this time it'll pass. I could barely speak with any of my colleagues because they were all so afraid of having their names out there except for Senator Simonson. He was one of the few against this bill from the very start. He was also an idiot who proclaimed that he was proud to be supported by the oil and gas industry. I usually do not mean to speak ill of the dead…but he should've known the target on his back. I didn't expect them to cover for him, and he paid for it."

" _I think he's talking about the Family Needs For Benefits Act."_ James thought. _"John Stevenson was the one who killed the bill, but now he's dead along with this Senator Simonson guy. It looks like either he's been killed long ago, or there's something Senator Mosart knows before any of us."  
_ " _And who is_ _ **THEM**_ _?"_ Alcor added. _"Maybe its NOS?"  
_ " _Most likely, which means we were right. He is a part of them."_ James realized.

Suddenly, the lights went out. Senator Mosart looked around the room alarmed.  
"I think…she's here!" He whispered into the phone, worried.  
" _She is here…"_ James thought.  
Just then the windows exploded open, and the whole back wall collapsed. Standing there was Lana in a red and black cloak with gold designs.  
"Senator Mosart." Lana greeted with a grin. "A pleasure."  
The lawmaker slowly backed away. "W-what do you want with me?"  
"It's obvious isn't it?" She took a step forward. "Remember H.R. 2251?"

"The…sex trafficking bill…6 years ago" Mosart realized. "You…were taken?"  
"That is correct." She nodded. "That bill sealed my fate. The moment that bill was passed, I was done for and you know why."  
"It was meant to be a compromise!" Mosart protested. "I was forced to accept a new bill in return for prison reform!"  
Lana suddenly burst out laughing.  
"How ironic!" She exclaimed, still grinning. "In an effort to fix the prison problem here in this city, you condemned so many girls here to sex slavery!"  
"P-please…" Mosart fell on his knees. "I didn't want it to happen but—"  
"You just wanted your bill passed is that it?" Lana suddenly delivered a tornado kick against his ribs sending him smashing into the wall. He groaned in pain and fell to the floor. The sudden movement made the shadow jump into the wall behind him with James still inside.

The Joker and Scarecrow War did not cause my abduction Senator." Lana walked up to him sneering.  
"That war was only a cover for the real danger: N.S.O."  
Mosart gasped. "H-how d-do you know that name!?"  
"I've dealt with a few of them already." She grabbed him by the collar and smashed him into the wall. The Senator coughed up blood as his head was forced against the wall.  
"While the little fight was going on, that bill went into effect and N.S.O. suddenly swooped in and started abducting every hot girl they could find to sell on the black market. And the unlucky thing about me was that I was out at night with my friends and family celebrating my impending graduation."

James nearly gasped out loud.  
" _No…"_

"Might I repeat the provisions in H.R. 2251?" Lana growled. "Provision 1: Sex-trafficking prevention programs are defunded. Provision 2: Gag rule on "sex-trafficking" on the Senate floor. Finally provision 3: Any abduction or disappearance of girls aged 9-33 is considered 'dead'. Now tell me, who would let such a radical bill be passed under his own nose; a man who prides himself on 'social justice'?"  
Senator Mosart shook with fear. "I-I'm sorry!"  
"It's too late for that." Lana raised her right arm back. "Six years too late."  
Suddenly, a powerful blast of Solarium struck Lana in the chest and sent her flying out of the office and onto a rooftop. Groaning, she tried to sit up, only to be suddenly grabbed by the throat. She blinked and saw Nightshroud over her with tears running down his eyes.

"Oh. So you…finally…figured it out did you?" Lana asked, choking.  
Nightshroud/James suddenly raised his foot and smashed down on her left leg, breaking it.  
"AAARRRRAAHH!" She screamed as more tears ran down his face.  
"I did that so you wouldn't get away." James sniffed. "I'm so sorry. But yes, I did figure it out."  
"Oh. Well…let me…hear this." Lana said as James took his hand off of her throat.  
"The class ring, the murder targets, the demeanor, your language, it was all right in front of me all this time." James cried. "I didn't want to believe that you had become such a cold-hearted killer but you have."

He looked up into the sky for a moment before locking eyes with the girl he knew.

"Hello…Hanna Davis."

 **What's this? Lana is Hanna? How!? Find out next time!**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Fractured

"Hello, my brother." Lana's face suddenly began to change. Her eyes turned from dark purple to a lighter brown. Her skin darkened and became similar to James's skin tone.  
James blinked, and saw the recognizable face of his sister staring back at him. He turned and suddenly fired a Solarium blast back into Senator Mosart's office. The energy flew around the scared lawmaker and knocked him out. Looking down, he could see police and paramedics arriving at the bottom floor of city hall. He quickly grabbed his sister by the cloak and flew away into the night.  
"We need to talk." James/Nightshroud demanded.  
"Like I have a choice." Hanna sighed.

James flew for a few minutes with his sister before landing back into the ruins to where James and Nero's battle took place. Setting her on a rock, he sat down in front of her.  
"I had it figured out from the beginning." He started. "Your experiences as 'Lana' were too similar to what happened to Hanna. You also taunted me with my own history, and only two people knew that much about my teenage troubles."  
She chuckled. "Correct. But how do you explain my appearance changing?"  
"Simple." James answered. "You jumped into the vat of exobytes. Obviously everyone's bodies are different so the reactions will vary. However in your case, I theorized that you created a new personality. The name 'Lana' existed before that personality. I'm guessing you wanted to bury your old name after what you suffered through. So when your appearance changed after emerging from that vat, it was the perfect opportunity."  
"However I'm also guessing that that new personality is also causing a change in your brain." James continued. "Let me be clear: I get that you went through hell, and you were there for months. But I think it was the exobytes that altered your brain functions and made you who you are now."

Hanna chuckled again. "Even now you still are the smartest in our family. You pieced together the whole story including the ones you weren't even there for. But you are wrong about one thing: The exobytes have not changed my personality or my brain function. In fact, I'm wondering why you even theorized that after what happened to you."  
"What do you mean?"  
"James, you destroyed your old high school." Hanna replied, nonplussed. "Your rage consumed you and out birthed a dark power. You don't remember?"  
"I recently recovered those memories Hanna." James said. "My memories were sealed away by Batman after the destruction."  
"Wait, your memories were sealed away!?" Hanna stared at him. "Why!?"  
"Because if they hadn't, I would've become a threat." James answered. "Batman told me that if left unchecked, I would've become a supervillain right then and there."

"That old Bat's always two steps ahead of everyone." She shook her head. "By the way, normally I heal fast. Why can't I heal my leg with my kinetium?"  
"I sealed the wound with my Solarium." James said. "I know you heal quickly like I do, so I did that to keep you here."  
"Ah." Hanna sighed. "So it took you only six months to surpass me in power. If not, then I would've broken the seal already. How did you get so strong so fast?"  
"I had plenty of training, and my body grows in strength with each battle I fight." James answered. "A perk with Solarium."  
"Man…" Hanna looked up at the sky. "So what are you gonna do huh? Beg for me to stop? Psychoanalyze me so I'll become good like Poison Ivy?"  
James looked at her. "You knew about that too?"  
Hanna looked back at him. "Oh yeah. Long before you knew I existed I was watching you. I enrolled into Gotham University just to watch over you. But I was disguised as Lana by then. At the time you were the Valiant Warrior with the black and yellow costume like a bee."

He folded his arms. "Yeah whatever."

"Anyway." She continued. "I saw you take Pamela Isley out on a date, and I could not believe what I was seeing; you being 20 years old at the time and Pamela in her early 30s. You really take after our parents."  
"Ha. Ha." James rolled his eyes. "Hey she was the first woman who ever loved me back. To be honest I really didn't care if she was a supervillain. She reciprocated my feelings and I really couldn't be happier considering my track record with girls."  
"Trust me, if she had dumped you and left you behind, she would've been the next target on my list." Hanna chuckled.  
James put his head between his knees. "You know, this feels good being able to talk to you again, but wrong at the same time."

"Well think about it." Hanna suggested. "When was the last time we spoke to each other?"  
James stopped. _"When was the last time…?"  
_ He thought back to before the abduction and the school attack. Counting down the years, his eyes widened.  
"6 years ago." He finally answered. "The same year I nearly killed Abby."  
"Bah, she's fine." Hanna said. "I actually crossed paths with her recently."

"W-what!?" James asked incredulously. "When?"

"Last year." Hanna replied. "After Brainiac/Luthor's attack. I saw you as Nightshroud fight with the Justice League against him. But I also saw someone spying on you from the shadows. But before I tell you about that, you haven't answered my question."  
"What question?"  
"Well it's more of an indirect question really." Hanna explained. "Psychologically, you're normal. Obviously the powers inside you make you different from any average human, but you are a regular, normal person. I said that I was a bit astounded that you would think that my brain function would've been changed as to why I acted this way. You've acted crazily in the past but you're still normal. I'm practically the same."

"That's different Hanna." James looked at her incredulously. "That was an isolated event—"  
"You're telling me that was the only time you ever lost control?"  
He froze. She had him there. He had lost control of his anger many times since that incident.  
"Nero." James answered. "He was always there…"  
She nodded. "When you lost control that day and destroyed the high school, I was the first one at your bedside in the hospital. I was not in the school then. Senioritis. Go figure. Anyway, I still stayed next to you and kept you company."  
"Yes…" James nodded back. I'm remembering now…you fell asleep watching me. The rage energy had damaged my body and I was in the hospital for a week. However I found that strange because a week is not very long for the injuries I had…"

"It's an energy that only you have." Hanna explained. "I don't know too much about it, but it's true."  
"But anyway let me get back to seeing Abigail." She continued. "During the Brainiac/Luthor fight she was keeping a close eye on you. Unfortunately for her, I noticed and captured her."  
"You…captured her?" James scratched his head. "How?"  
"A kinetium blast to the back of the neck." Hanna replied bluntly.  
He chuckled. "Well shit. That's pretty straightforward."  
"Hey it works." Hanna smiled. "So I took her back to my headquarters and confined her there. I found out that she has superpowers too."

James nodded. "Yeah she did. She can manipulate the environment around her by altering people's thoughts and more. That's how she ruled the high school while I was there."  
"Before I add to that topic, I need to tell you this James." Hanna spoke seriously. "All these people I captured and killed were for you."  
James blinked. "What?"  
"You've only understood half of what's been going on James." Hanna explained. "Those people not only ruined my life, but yours too."  
"M-my life!?" He stuttered. "How!?"  
"First, tell me." Hanna started. "What is Abigail's last name?"  
James's mouth dropped open. "…Gullucci. She's half Italian…"  
"And her father is Ricardo Gullucci a.k.a _El Silencio_." She confirmed. "It's no coincidence that Ricardo bought me in the sex trafficking business and his daughter tried to destroy you. You see our parents were actually quite popular around our hometown."

"Before we moved you mean?" James asked.  
Hanna nodded. "Our hometown of East Meadows wasn't very large. A population of around 8,000 means people are bound to know each other. Since mom was a real estate agent/lawyer and dad was a criminal lawyer, they fought hundreds of cases together as you very well know."  
"I do." James nodded. "They even took on some of the big corporations and won."  
"Truth be told our parents would eventually come face to face with Emily Correia and her husband Ricardo Gullucci."  
"Wait what!?" He shook his head in disbelief. "When did this happen?"

"Remember when our parents sent us to our godmother and godfather's house in Connecticut?"  
"Yeah…"

"It was to protect us." She explained. "They knew who they were going up against and they wanted to keep us safe. What happened was that there was a family whose parents were supposedly robbed by a SuperMart supermarket. When they sued, they went up against the CEO of SuperMart: Drew Herney. My parents took the case and won. However Drew Herney was connected to Gullucci and Correia, because he too was involved in the sex-trafficking business."  
"The CEO of SuperMart in the sex-trafficking scheme!?" James said startled. "Why? That guy is one of the richest men in the world! He's worth $20 billion!"  
"Well after that case, he resigned from his post in disgrace." Hanna continued. "No amount of money can save a tarnished reputation. It turns out he's been involved in a multitude of scandals dating back 20 years ago. The guy was 44 years old then."

"Which means his connections to Gullucci put _El Silencio_ himself in danger." Hanna explained. "However he blamed our parents for his misfortune, and swore to ruin them. He happened to be watching the case in the courtroom too."  
"That's the reason why we moved…" James realized. "I didn't understand it before, but destroying the high school was not the only reason we moved."  
"Correct." Hanna nodded. "And also—"  
Suddenly Hanna was struck in a chest with a green blast of energy sending her into a wall.  
James as Nightshroud quickly stood up and looked and saw George and Georgina standing on a rooftop nearby.

"James! Get out of there!" George shouted.  
"No! Stop!" Nightshroud held his hands up. "I'm dealing with this! You don't need to attack her!"  
But just then Lana flew high into the air and fired a blaze of energy blasts down onto the ground, forcing them to take cover.  
" _She broke the seal! What is she doing!?"_ James thought, incredulously.  
" _It's difficult to decipher…"_ Alcor finally spoke. _"But I believe we've been misinterpreting Hanna/Lana's true motives."  
_ "Make the links James!" Hanna called out, face changing back to Lana. "There is no such thing as coincidence with N.S.O!"  
She the faded into a red haze as George and Georgina ran over to him.

"James! Are you alright?" Georgina placed a hand on his shoulder.  
"I'm fine." He stood up. "But I think we've been chasing the wrong person."

* * *

Bruce Wayne stood on a balcony on top of the GCPD building next to Commissioner Gordon. Both men could see Arkham City in the distance with the criminals from Blackgate and Arkham Asylum being ushered into the new prison.  
"I don't like this." Commissioner Gordon said. "Random rich guys turning up dead on the Gotham streets, and now Mayor Sharp is now opening a superprison right in our backyard. I just can't believe the city council would approve such a thing."  
"The council is tired Jim." Bruce replied. "As are the public. They're sick of these breakouts and inaction. They think Mayor Sharp is going to fix it all by hauling all these criminals into a closed off slum of Gotham City. It won't work."  
Gordon nodded. "There's no way that can work; all those criminals in one open space? It'll be madness. I couldn't stop the council from voting for it. And this TYGER group…"

"I'm going to try." Bruce answered. "Hopefully I can get the people to see the ridiculousness of this endeavor."  
"I hope so." The Commissioner turned to him. "Good luck Bruce. And be careful out there."

Nodding, Bruce dialed for Alfred.

"Alfred." He spoke. "Call the local news media, I'm going to set up a press conference. Bruce Wayne is going to oppose Arkham City."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Arkham City

 **Gotham Gazette:**

 _ **BRUCE WAYNE OPPOSES ARKHAM CITY**_

 _February 3, 2016:_

 _Bruce Wayne, billionaire playboy CEO of Wayne Enterprises and head of the Wayne Foundation has come out in opposition to Arkham City. Bruce Wayne recently had been involved with supporting the Family Needs For Benefits Act that was a bill that was supposed to give working families benefits including Maternity and Paternity leave mandated by the state government. The bill is being reintroduced by Senator Zach Mosart after the sudden deaths of Senator Joseph Simonson and John Stevenson, the former owner of the Lifeline Insurance Company who were both known to be in stark opposition to the bill.  
_ _Today, with the powerful Bruce Wayne and new Mayor of Gotham City Quincy Sharp on opposite ends, it looks like the duo are destined for a collision course._

"So it's true then?" Pam crossed her arms. "Lana is Hanna?"  
James nodded sadly. "Yes. She's been committing all of these murders."  
James and Pam met up with the rest of the team at the base to discuss the unfolding developments.  
"So what are you gonna do?" Joe asked. "It's obvious she needs to be stopped."  
"It was obvious." Leslie corrected. "But then this started happening."  
She grabbed the remote and turned on the large TV.

"This is Vicki Vale reporting live from Gotham City Hall." The blond reporter said. "Behind me is a large crowd of people protesting outside the hall, demanding the city council to vote on the reintroduced Family Needs For Benefits Act. This crowd appears to be—"  
"Wearing Lana's cloak…" James finished, stunned. "These people…are her supporters."  
"That's…uncanny!" Georgina said worriedly.  
"I know! Why didn't I ever think of that?" Pam huffed.  
Everyone looked at her.  
"I'm not talking about now!" Pam said quickly. "When I was Poison Ivy!"  
Shaking his head, Joe turned back to the TV.

"She hasn't just been targeting these people for the retribution. She knows the public hates these people. Killing them is changing things. Because both Senator Simonson and John Stevenson are both dead, that now clears the way for the bill to pass."  
"A very bloody solution." George sighed. "She's forcing change by extreme measures."  
"It doesn't look like a big crowd though." Leslie said optimistically. "Maybe—"  
"This crowd is not the only group that supports her." Vicki Vale spoke. "According to recent reports, this 'Lana' person has set up a twitter account and is already up to 2 million followers."  
"Oh fuck…" James groaned. "My sister is committing multiple murders and she's being rewarded for it. This is insane! I need to meet with her again."  
"But James!" Joe protested. "If you—"

"Let him." Pam interrupted. "I know what he's going through. Let him see her on his own."  
Joe fell silent, as did everyone else.  
She suddenly started coughing heavily, prompting James to quickly place her on the couch.  
Just then, James's Ari1 rang.  
"Hello?" He answered.  
"Hello brother." Hanna's voice flooded the speaker.  
"Hanna…" James sighed. "We need to—"  
"Talk." She finished. "I know. Meet me at the old diner. You know the one."  
Nodding, he hung up and turned to his friends.

"I'll be back."

* * *

Nightshroud floated down to the ruins of the Sight Round Dome Diner and reentered through the back. He made his way down to Lana/Hanna's old hideout and as he reached the bottom immediately saw Hanna looking at a large screen.  
"I miss this place." Hanna turned to him. "We as a family used to go all the time. So much that even the waiters and waitresses knew us."  
"And I used to take Abigail here too." James added.  
Hanna looked at him then sighed.  
"James…" She started. "Back then…it pained me to see you so lonely in High School. Sure you had your friends, but never one that told you 'I love you.' So when you started dating Abigail…I was suspicious."  
James sat down on a nearby chair and folded his arms. "Was it because of my poor track record with girls before?"

She slowly nodded. "I'm not belittling you. I think any girl would be lucky to have you. You're intelligent, good looking and kind."

James laughed. I'm not that good looking."  
"Of course you are." Hanna shook her head. "And—"  
"Tell that to all the girls that ghosted me." James said bitterly. "That's the worst kind of insult to me; when you can't even tell me that you're not interested in me and just decide that I'll get the hint if they stopped texting me."  
Hanna sighed again. "I know. And I was ready to beat the shit out of those girls because of how sad they made you."

James chuckled. "Well I am honored."

Hanna gave a small smile. "It's what big sisters do. But Abigail felt different. Seeing you happy made our parents and me happy. Before you were very aloof and depressed all the time. You barely spoke to us and just did your own thing. But Abigail was genuine. And—"  
"Also a liar." James interrupted angrily. "She was only doing that to set me up for a fall. A deep fall."  
"I don't know about that James." Hanna questioned. "Remember I told you that I met her recently."  
"Oh yeah!" James pushed his seat closer. "You never finished that story."  
"Ah. Well then I captured Abigail after she was spying on you during the Brainiac fight." Hanna explained. "I took her back to my hideout and was about to torture her when…"

 _ **Abigail started crying. "Please! I know I deserve this but let me speak to him! I need to speak to James!"  
**_ _" **Fuck off." Hanna gritted her teeth. "You destroyed James that day. You wrecked his self-confidence and he nearly slaughtered the whole school because of it! THAT WAS YOUR FAULT."  
**_ _" **I know!" Hanna banged on the large tube she was trapped in. "But I can explain that!"  
**_ _ **Hanna hovered over the activation switch, which would send 10,000 volts of electricity coursing through the tube and would shock her badly.**_

 _" **You have 10 seconds." Hanna demanded. "Explain. Now."**_

 _" **I was in love with James." Abigail insisted. "I truly loved him. But I am infected. I have another personality. Her name is Lilith and she takes control of me from time to time! I have these powers that I can't control and it scares me! My father experimented on me years ago and injected some stuff called "exolytes" or something and it created this new person! I did not betray James! Lilith controls me and tells me that she worships this organization called N.S.O or something!"**_

"That stopped me." Abigail said to an astonished James. "A supposedly innocent girl knew about N.S.O and that her parents are dark people? It sounded too suspicious."  
"It does." James agreed. "I mean how are we supposed to believe her?"  
"By forcing Lilith out." Hanna said darkly. "Since she was in that large tube already, I ripped Lilith out of Abigail's body and imprisoned her. I interrogated her and found out something very disturbing."

"What?" He asked.

"I'll show you." Hanna pressed a button, and a video of two Abigails in two different prison tubes was showing.  
"Lilith…" James started.  
"Takes the form of its host." Hanna answered. "Don't worry, you'll know who's who once they start talking."

 _" **Quit being such a bitch and let me out." Lilith said. "You can't stop me. I am the most powerful being of my generation."  
**_ _" **Really?" Lana placed her hand on her tube and kinetium flooded into the tube. She screamed loudly as the red energy burned her skin.  
**_ _" **Had enough?" She took her hand off the tube and crossed her arms.**_

 _" **You fucking c**t!" Lilith screamed out. "You can't keep me in this goddamn cylinder forever!"**_

 _" **I'd like to try that actually." Lana smiled. "So you follow N.S.O do you?"  
**_ _ **Lilith grinned. "I do more than follow them, I live them. This world is flawed and decrepit. Other races look at this planet and its species and scoff at it because it is so pathetic. You know why that is? It is because we are the only species that tries to actively destroy each other! We have always fought our own kind whether its skin color, wealth, or ownership, when we really should be uniting our species and dividing our differences. This is why I was created!"**_

 _" **You had me at 'dividing.'" Lana growled. "Elaborate on that."**_

 _" **Race will never be solved." Lilith stared at her intently. "We will never achieve full equality of rights and opportunity. Therefore we should stop that fight and instead create subcultures in order to silence the idea."  
**_ _ **"Ah so you're segregating them is that it?" Lana chuckled.  
**_ _" **Bah! Such an obsolete term!" Lilith shook her head. "I may be a piece of that whore's body, but I think for myself and I make the decisions. She cannot."  
**_ _" **Back off!" Abigail banged on the tube again. "I was perfectly fine until you ruined my life!"**_

 _ **Lilith laughed maniacally "** **I** **ruined your life? You sucked away any class you had by dating James."  
**_ _ **Abigail punched the tube with both of her hands. "TAKE THAT BACK! GO FUCK YOURSELF!"  
**_ _ **Lilith kept laughing. "You know I'm right! That little shithead was too much of an idealist to live in the real world. I should've had his power right about now. I came an inch away from killing him and then—"  
**_ _" **James annihilated you!" Abigail cut in. "He embarrassed you and kicked your bitch ass to the ground!"**_

 _" **SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Lilith banged on the glass too. "The Order had no idea that the power inside him was pure rage. He caught everyone by surprise."**_

Hanna looked next to her and saw James with his fists shaking. She noticed that he was staring right at Lilith.  
Turning back to the video, they continued to watch:

 _" **Regardless…" Lilith continued. "Now that he's this big shot superhero the Order can no longer touch him. The lucky dillhole managed to make some super powered friends including the Batman. He doesn't deserve it. That little p***y should've committed suicide and thus make the world a better place."  
**_ _" **Alright that's enough." Lana slammed a red button next to her and suddenly yellow gas flooded Lilith's tank. She screamed as her body melted away in the gas and her powers faded. Soon there was nothing but ash remaining.**_

 _" **W-what was that!?" Abigail stammered.**_

 _" **Synthetic X." Lana explained. "A chemical compound that destroys a person at the atomic level. Don't worry, with that last blast, it's now extinct. You should be fine now and free of her influence."  
**_ _ **Walking over to Abigail's tube, she stared intently into her eyes.  
**_ _" **Do you still love James?" Lana asked.  
**_ _ **She nodded. "I always have."  
**_ _ **The Kinetium user turned away. "Well you're out of luck. He's now dating Pamela Isley."**_

 _" **I'm aware." Abigail slid down to her knees depressed. "At least he's happy."  
**_ _" **Cheer up." Lana pressed a button and the tube lifted into the ceiling, setting her free.  
**_ _ **"At least you're no longer on my list." Lana crossed her arms.  
**_ _" **Good to know." Abigail replied sadly. "I don't know what to do now. My parents are dead, the boy I loved hates me like I deserve, and I have no other family to go to. My home is too lonely to live in. My parents were rich, yes, but it's dirty money. I'm not taking any of that."**_

 _" **Goody two shoes." Lana remarked. "I would've still used at least** **some** **of the money."**_

Hanna looked at James after the video stopped.  
"Well?" She asked.  
"I…" James couldn't find the words to answer. "She…didn't turn the school against me? It was this 'Lilith' girl? Unbelievable."  
James turned to face Hanna.  
"Where is she now?"  
"Right here." A voice spoke.

James whipped around as Nightshroud and readied for battle. But he suddenly stopped after what he saw.

Standing there at the door was Abigail Gullucci.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Reunion With Danger

Nightshroud/James stopped. "You…how long have you been standing there?"  
"Since you arrived." Abigail stepped out into the light and revealed her presence.  
James looked up and down her body and could see she had really grown. Her blond hair had grown down to her shoulders, her height had increased by about two inches, and she had filled out in many places.  
"You know I always said you were too skinny before." James joked.  
She chuckled. "Still the same James. But I think I've filled out a bit. Hell, one morning I woke up and found my bra ripped to shreds because my tits had outgrown them."

He couldn't help but laugh. "God damn you must have some now huh?"  
She twirled around, showing off her body. "You betcha."  
" _This is weird…"_ James thought. _"It feels like we're…picking up where we left off 5-6 years ago…"  
_ " _Perhaps you are." Alcor suggested. "Now that you know the truth, the malicious intent no longer exists."  
_ James knew he was right. This girl in front of him was not Lilith. Abigail's love for him was real. Regardless, he was not satisfied.

"Well then…" He started. "I guess we forget all that's happened before huh?"  
Abigail looked down at the ground.  
"…No." She answered. "It's my fault that you're traumatized by that day. I—"  
Just then James rushed up to her and hugged her. She gasped in surprise as he held her close.  
"No it's not your fault." James insisted. "You were possessed by an evil spirit, but she's gone now. You are your own person, and you can decide what to do with your life."

Tears ran down her eyes as she hugged him back.

"I'm sorry!" She cried. "I can't help it! I thought I'd never see you again, and I thought if I did you'd hate me!"  
"It's something I need to learn myself really." James admitted. "I need to stop holding grudges. It's what doomed many potential friends and me years ago and still today. I still have room for improvement, so don't be so hard on yourself."  
"James…" Abigail wrapped her arms around him and hugged back. "Thank you…"

After he broke the hug, he turned to Hanna.

"What's with you?" James asked. "All this time you try to kill me, and once you nearly did, but now you're helping me?"  
"James." Hanna stood up and looked in his direction. "I could never kill you. I fought as hard as I did so you wouldn't recognize me. If I went soft on you, you'd probably catch on quick."  
He was not convinced. "You impaled me. That should've killed me."  
"But it didn't." Hanna said. "Remember I've been watching you for a long time. I knew about your rage energy. I knew it would save you."  
"…" James stared at her.  
"What?" Hanna asked. "I made sure that the blow would appear fatal but wasn't. Even if your rage did not bubble over, your Solarium would fix you."

He sighed turning back to Abigail. "Fine, whatever. In the meantime, Abigail, where will you go?"

She sighed back. "I don't know. I can't go back home. Too many horrible memories exist there. I think I'll sell the house and find an apartment. After the two murders, I just can't think straight right now. It's not the fact they're dead that shocks me; it's what they've done. My father turned out to be a sex-trafficker and my mother covered for him and ruined many peoples' lives with her lobbying. I was completely ignorant of their actions."  
"Let's be fair." James suggested. "You were dealing with Lilith and—"  
Suddenly, the door behind them exploded. The trio whipped around and men in riot gear charged into the room.  
"Do not leave them alive!" The commander ordered. "Remember they are wanted dead!"

Nightshroud immediately unleashed a shockwave of Solarium, which shorted out all the guns the soldiers were holding.  
Abigail quickly charged forward and delivered a tornado kick that knocked the front soldier into the wall, surprising James and Hanna.  
Looking to his right, he could see Hanna had already switched to Lana and had blasted the front 5 soldiers into the wall.  
James/Nightshroud flew forward and slammed into the remaining soldiers at full force and destroyed the wall. Immediately the basement began to collapse.  
"Shit…" James muttered. "Let's get out of here. Oh and by the way, you're staying with me."  
"W-what!?" Abigail stammered. "Are you sure?"

The three of them were soon standing above a tall building overlooking the collapsed diner.  
"Look, I know things will be awkward for sometime." James admitted. "But what you need right now is company. I'll introduce you to my friends, and we could enroll you in my college."  
"W-why would you do that for me?" Abigail started. "I—"  
"You've done nothing wrong." He interrupted. "Your life was ruined and you had no control over it. It wouldn't be fair for me to just abandon you with nothing. In fact I owe you  
plenty."  
"For what?" Abigail asked, confused. "What have I—?"  
"You were the first to see me and actually like me." James answered. "You were the first girl who ever liked me in that way. And for that I thank you."  
She chuckled. "No...thank you."

"Are we done here?" Hanna spoke. "I think you're forgetting that you have someone already."  
James groaned. "I KNOW that god damn it!"  
"No, no she's right." Abigail agreed. "I'm thankful for what you're doing for me but you have someone that loves you back already."  
"That doesn't mean I can't help the people I still care about." James argued. "Look I get it, but I'm not betraying Pam's trust. I'm just helping you get back on your feet."  
"Fair enough." Abigail nodded.

* * *

 _A few hours later…_

"Dis is Abigail?" Georgina asked.  
"Damn James you knew how to pick em'." George quipped.  
James shook his head. "Alright enough of that."  
"Nice to meet you Abigail!" Leslie gave her a hug.  
"Likewise." Abigail said softly.  
Hanna had departed shortly before James and Abigail had gone to the base. Everyone was there to greet her. Everyone was surprisingly welcome towards her and was happy to meet her.

"Pleased to meet you Abigail." Joe greeted. "Welcome to our base."  
"Thanks!" She nodded smiling.  
At that moment, everyone grew tense.  
"James…" Joe started.  
"I know." He nodded. "This'll be difficult to explain."  
"Explain what?" Pam's voice sounded behind them.  
Everyone froze. James whipped around and was greeted with a smack to the face by a vine. He was knocked backwards and was forced to use his Solarium to stop his momentum.

He looked and saw Pamela Isley standing there with her arms crossed.  
"So." She walked in front of Abigail and stared intently into her eyes, prompting her to shrink back in fear.  
"You're the girl that humiliated James all those years ago?" She questioned. "You don't look like someone who has."  
"Long story Pam." James suddenly flew in between the two girls. "I was going to tell you."  
"Sure you were." She said crossly. "After you regained your memories of the day you destroyed your own high school because of her, suddenly you invite her back? What the f—"  
"ENOUGH!" James suddenly shouted, surprising everyone including Pam.  
"I don't want to talk about that day." He said furiously. "And it wasn't Abigail who did this. She was being possessed by another being named Lilith. It was _her_ who tried to destroy me, and Abigail couldn't fight it. I saw real footage of Lilith and her getting destroyed. Abigail's parents were criminals who are responsible for not only worldwide sex-trafficking but for experimenting on their own DAUGHTER!"

He finally stopped to take a breath. James looked around at his friends who were still silent; he looked at Pam who was staring at him in confusion.

"What?" James snapped. "Do I need to play the footage here so you'd all believe me? Fine. Alcor?"  
Solarium energy flew to the large screen on the wall and it blared to life. Everyone turned to look and they saw the two Abigails and Hanna with the test tubes.  
"Your sister…?" Joe looked at James, who nodded.  
They heard Lilith's tirade and her execution as Hanna destroyed her. The video then stopped and James turned to them all.  
"I'm sorry." He said. "I'm sorry to you especially Pam. I learned all of this at once and I had trouble processing it. Because Lilith is now dead, Abigail is free for the first time in a long time. Abigail never hurt me, and I trust her. But she understands us. Don't you Abigail?"

She nodded. "Yes."

Pam sighed. "Alright. Perhaps I got a little carried away—"  
"Understatement of the fucking year." James muttered.  
"No need for that." She shook her head. "Ugh this is insane. So is Abigail part of your team now James?"  
"No." He replied.  
"No?" Joe asked. "Then why—"  
"Is she here?" James finished. "It's temporary. Abigail just had a tough ordeal, so she's going to be staying here for sometime. She's been under major duress for a while so I don't want her to fight or to be involved. I know she's a free thinker and I can't stop her from doing what she thinks is best for herself. But at least for now she just needs rest from the real world."

Leslie nodded. "Fair enough, and hey if need be she can stay with me sometimes too."

"And me!" Georgina added.  
Abigail looked at the two girls and gave a small smile. "Thanks."  
"Well then." James started. "Now that that's over with, I need to go."  
"Where are you going now James?" Pam asked impatiently.  
"To see my parents." He answered. "They have a lot of explaining to do."

* * *

"Hello James!" His father George Adam Davis greeted.  
"Hey dad." The young student walked into his apartment.  
"How have you been?" He asked. "I can see you've been busy."  
"Please cut that out dad." James folded his arms. "I know you and mom have been hiding something."  
"I don't know what you mean." Adam responded.  
"I HAVE A SISTER!" James shouted.

His dad stopped and looked at him.

"How long have you known?"  
"About a week!" James said angrily. "I've recovered all my memories of that day!"  
He sighed. "Come. Sit down."  
James sat down across from his father and watched as he pondered for a moment, then spoke.

"Since that day." He started. "We've been heartbroken; all of us. We didn't know how to go on. When the Batman wiped your memories he didn't wipe ours. We specifically asked him not to. In the years that followed we saw you running around trying to live your life but you were so lonely. You became so withdrawn and sad since that day but you yourself didn't understand why. That fateful week had ripped away two people you loved. We could see how much of a toll it still took on you despite having no memory of it. It would eventually strain our marriage Amy and I and we'd split up."

James stayed silent as his father continued.

"Your sister loved you with all her heart." His father said. "You two may argue sometimes and may not agree on everything but she loved you. Every time you were sad she would be sad too and would try to comfort you. Your mother and I know that she would never hurt you."  
" _Ouch."  
_ " _Yeah I know."  
_ "Wait a minute…" James stopped. "You said _know_. Why in the present tense?"  
His father looked at him for a moment, then spoke.  
"James." He said. "We knew who you were long before you told us."  
"That means…" James's eyes widened. "You two already know that…Hanna is here!?"

"Precisely." Hanna stepped out from behind the door to face him.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Second Reunion

 **Bit of a small change here. I realized too late I have two characters named George in this story, so I changed James's father to Adam. My bad!**

"We really gotta stop meeting like this." James joked. "I mean damn, you're practically stalking me."  
"Ha. Ha. Ha." Hanna walked forward and sat in a chair near the breakfast table.  
"So where's mom?" James asked. "I'm sure she wouldn't wanna miss this."  
"She's on her way." Adam answered. "We need to deal with this as a family."  
"Deal with what?" He asked. "For all we know, I haven't committed any crimes."  
"I know what that means damn it." Hanna scowled.  
"Enough." Adam interrupted. "That isn't helping James. We need to talk this out."  
He sighed. "Alright."

Once Amy Davis had arrived, everybody sat down at the breakfast table together for the first time in years.

"Alright then." George Adam Davis started. "Your mother and I have known about you two for a long time. We've been talking about this for a while and we decided to get back together."  
Hanna and James nearly jumped out of their seats.  
"Really!?" James exclaimed, surprised. "Seriously!?"  
"No way!" Hanna added. "When!?"  
For the first time, their parents smiled.  
"We have not set a date yet, but sometime soon." Amy answered. "Trust me, you two will be the first to know before the rest of the family."  
Hanna and James looked at each other incredulously. They couldn't believe the news.  
"This is…unreal!" Hanna cried out. "How many years has it been!?"  
"Six." James answered somberly.  
"Good. Now let's get down to the real business at hand." Adam said sharply.

Both young adults stopped and sat back down.

"You two are in interesting positions." Amy explained. "Both of you have unimaginable power and it's incredible the things you've done. However…"  
" _I do not like where this is going."_ Alcor spoke.  
" _Neither do I."_ James thought back.  
"Hanna." Amy started. "You've done what you did for James isn't that right?"  
Both of them gasped. Hanna slowly nodded.  
"You knew that James would eventually have to fight the enemies you have fought." Adam added. "You did not want him to get into that."  
"Wait what?" James interrupted confused. "What do you mean I'd have to fight them? All the people she has killed?"  
"You need to know James." Amy answered. "Remember _Novus Ordo Seclorum_?"  
"The new world order group." He nodded. "Yes all of the dead are members of—"

"They know about us." Hanna interrupted.

"Yeah and?" He asked.  
"Had I not intervened, they would've come after you." She explained. "All those dead people? They all wanted you out of the way. They all knew that you harbored a connection to that incident at the high school. Remember Abigail's parents were part of that organization and they—"  
"Have met me numerous times." James's eyes widened. "I was dating her…and I met them often!"  
Adam nodded. "I knew her parents as well. I defeated them in court before, and they knew who we were. It wasn't good. Your mother and I came to the conclusion that they created Lilith solely for bringing out your rage power. Once she had released that power, she could steal it from you and leave you for dead. NOS would've had a very powerful weapon in their hands had you not fought back and nearly destroyed the school."  
"That doesn't excuse all the people I hurt." James spat, nonplussed. "Many innocent students should have been killed by my power but I was lucky that Batman had been watching the whole time."  
His mother nodded. "Regardless, what's done is done. James, I know you are furious at your sister and you have every right to be. However it was us that gave her permission."

He gasped. "W-what!?"

"Like we said before, we did not want you to be targeted by this dangerous organization." Hanna explained. "Like it or not, the killings are keeping the peace."  
"But won't they just keep coming after me then?" James protested. "Now that you've rattled their feathers they're surely going to try to get us."  
"Not true." His father answered. "Batman and the League knows about NOS. NOS isn't stupid enough to try to go all out and try to take you away. However we also know that they have an influence on Cadmus. Specifically Amanda Waller."  
"Waller…" He muttered as Amy continued.  
"Batman has kept contact with us since your memory was wiped." She said. "The reason why NOS did not come you after the high school attack was because they were under suspicion for the attack itself and therefore was forced to lie in wait. Believe it or not the organization back then was not as large and dominant as it is now. But while they're still under suspicion, they've grown large enough to take action. Be careful James. What's going on in Arkham City is no coincidence."  
"There is one last thing you should know James." Adam said. "The reason NOS is coming after us isn't because we won a court case against them. They've lost cases before, but what makes this one so significant was that a lot was riding on this particular case. Had they won or if they had reached a settlement, this would've ended any media coverage and anymore questions that would've been asked. NOS likes to stay in the shadows, and because they lost this particular case it nearly led to some of their members being exposed. But because of their attacks on our family, their identity was kept secret. We were hit hard by them and nearly ruined for beating them."  
"So this isn't just a revenge thing?" James asked.  
"It never was." Hanna shook her head. "Our work is finally bringing NOS out of the shadows and into the spotlight. As long as we could shed some light on their organization, they'll be targeted and they'll have a much harder time getting anything done."  
"But killing their members!?" He spat out. "You're telling me there is no better way?"

"Unfortunately, if there was we'd already be doing it by now." Amy answered. "Your father and I don't like it either, but this is the only effective method of exposing them."

* * *

Batman stood on top of a water tower overlooking the slums of Gotham. Looking down into the streets, he could see thugs fighting it out amongst each other for food and other supplies. Gang wars had become common pretty quickly once Arkham City opened. It was to be expected.  
 _"Why is all of this happening at once?"_ He thought. _"NOS, Quincy Sharp opening a prison, and now Hugo Strange is present?"_  
Thinking back to the events that just transpired, he remembered his conversation with Hugo Strange before escaping.

 ** _Flashback_**

 _Bruce Wayne found himself tied to a chair blinking in and out of consciousness. He could barely remember what happened.  
"I should thank you." Strange said. "Capturing Bruce Wayne is so much easier than capturing the Batman. And now that we have you, Protocol 10 is ready to begin. It will be my legacy; a monument to your failure. And if you try to stop me, I guarantee everyone will know your secret."_

He shook his head. _"Even if he did expose my secret, I would still make every effort to stop him. He doesn't scare me, or this Protocol 10. I will find out what he's planning."  
_ No, it wasn't Strange he was afraid of. Despite Protocol 10 being an unknown to him, the fact that so many events are happening at once are what was worrying to him. _  
"Is it possible that Strange is part of NOS?"_ He wondered. _"This grand organization appears to have members from all over the world, yet seem to operate in the Western Hemisphere the most...Why?"_  
The Dark Knight then looked up into the sky. The snow was light, and but the clouds were dark. He could see the lights of the buildings illuminating the sky along with the guard towers that surrounded the prison.  
Finally, he thought about James. _  
"His family are connected somehow to all of this..."_ Batman thought. _"There has to be more than just the incident 6 years ago as well as the kidnapping. That court case...I need to find out more. For now however, I need to stop Sharp and the other criminals that are running rampant in this prison."_

Leaping off the water tower, he dove through the air and activated his cape. Flying at high speed, he looked towards the courthouse and saw a squad of thugs by the door.  
 _"Looks like a trial is about to begin..."_ He realized. _"And three guesses who the attorney is gonna be..."_

* * *

James and Pam clicked around his computer searching for new homes. With the large lottery winnings he was finally able to move out of his apartment and into an actual house. Plus, he wouldn't need to pay a mortgage because he would be paying in full on the first day. Regardless, his mind was still on the conversation he had with his family. He couldn't believe that his sister was actually acting on orders from their parents in order to keep him out of danger.  
" _It sounds insane…"_ James thought.  
" _But it's also arguably what parents would do, albeit not with their own daughter."_ Alcor suggested.  
" _But that's just it."_ He replied. _"She volunteered willingly to the killings. Not that it was hard mind you but it just sounds nuts!"  
_ " _We'll just have to see how things play out in Arkham City."_ Alcor said finally. _"We can assist Batman when we can but at the moment the core of NOS is untouchable and unknown."  
_ " _Agreed."_

"How's Max doing?"  
"He's doing fine." The plant user nodded. "He mostly keeps to himself but is learning every day.  
James looked down at the ground. Despite all that's been happening, he was well aware of his absence from taking care of the child.  
"Pam I'm—"  
"Don't be sorry." She interrupted. "I understand what you're doing. I know you miss him but you want to keep NOS far away from him. That's noble. However that doesn't mean that you can't see him at all."  
"I know." James nodded. "I'm just afraid at what Cadmus or NOS might do if they found out where he was."  
"We'll protect him." Pam assured him. "Right now though I know you have a lot on your mind. I just can't believe your whole family is in on it."  
"Me neither." He sulked. "This also means I'll have to tell them about you."  
"I don't think they'll mind me too much now." Pam grinned. "Plus they'll love the fact you're dating a bombshell."  
James rolled his eyes. "Alright, then maybe you could—"  
Just then Pam stretched her bare legs over his own; she wiggled her feet onto his and pressed her chest against his chin.

"Damn you…" He muttered as he dove at her clawing at her top. She giggled and kissed him deeply…

 _A few hours later..._

James lay down next to Pam as she slept. Watching her contently, he suddenly began to sense a third presence in the room. Bolting upright, he looked around alarmed at the source of the energy.  
 _"Alcor! Can you sense that?"  
_ " _I can."_ He replied. _"And I think I know where it's coming from."  
_ The college student looked down at Pam, who was still asleep. Tracing his eyes downwards, he suddenly stopped at her stomach. Activating his Solarium, he looked into her abdomen. _  
"No...fucking...way..."  
_ "Pam! Wake up!" He shouted.  
Her eyes flew open and she looked around in alarm.  
"What!? What James? What's wrong?" She asked quickly while rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.  
"Pam..." He started nervously. "What you took that pregnancy test those months ago...Did you check if it was a false negative?"  
"N-No..." She looked at him strangely. "Why?"  
"When I've been gone...Have you been feeling morning sickness? Or have you been vomiting?"

She froze, coming to a realization. "I...I...well...FUCK! Why didn't I realize it before!?"  
Looking down, she placed a hand on her stomach. Closing her eyes she suddenly felt a response of energy through her.  
"Oh...my...lord..." Pamela Isley gasped loudly. "I'm...I'm...I'M PREGNANT!"  
"OH MY GOD!" James threw his arms around her. "She really is going to exist!"  
"Jaime Davis is coming!" Pam hugged back with tears in her eyes. "Finally...we're going to have a family! You, me, Max, and Jaime! Together!"

* * *

 _In an unknown location…  
_  
"He has no idea." A voice spoke.  
"He will soon enough." Another said.  
"His world should not exist."  
"He should never have been born…"  
"His life is nothing but an obstacle."  
"Progress must continue."  
"But we can use him."  
"But time will be patient."  
"The final solution will be the end." They all chanted.

* * *

" _Computer…activate protocol…eleven…codename…Wayne."  
_ " _If you don't hurry, the leading lady might be found dead in her dressing room…"  
_  
" _I'm sorry my love…"  
_ " _Oh lighten up Bats! It's not like you got a girl to save now huh? Sorry, too soon? BWAHAHAHAHAHAH!"  
_  
" _Batman! What happened!?"  
_  
" _He's been missing for two weeks Tim…"  
_  
" _Joker Forever."  
_  
" _I will blow this place sky high!"  
_ " _Give me that!"  
_ " _What have you done…?"  
_  
" _I'm done here."  
_ " _Hey kid, is he alright?"  
_ " _Yeah…yeah he is…"_

" _The Joker…is dead? That's unbelievable!"  
_  
In just three days, all hell broke loose in Arkham City. The Joker, Penguin, and Two-Face were involved in a fierce gang war that threatened to envelope the prison. Batman was then infected with the same titan virus as Joker, and it slowly ate away at his health. At the same time, Mayor Quincy Sharp revealed to be just a tool for Hugo Strange to try to destroy Batman. Protocol 10 ended up being a plan to murder all of the crooks and criminals in Arkham City in order to purge Gotham of its crime. However Strange ended up being a pawn to Ra's Al Ghul, who would later commit suicide to prevent capture by the Batman. To top it all off, despite the Dark Knight acquiring the cure to the titan virus, the Joker ended up finally succumbing to the virus and dying in front of the Batman.  
Despite Harley Quinn's attempt at revenge by capturing him, Tim Drake as Robin would intervene with help from Barbara as Batgirl and would free him from her clutches.

Nine months after Arkham City was shut down with Hugo Strange, Talia Al Ghul and the Joker being some of the big casualties, crime has dropped greatly in Gotham. The people of the big city started to feel hopeful for the future for the first time in a long time. Until…

 _November 4, 2016_

 **2016 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION RESULTS**

"I'm Vicki Vale reporting live from Independent Headquarters at Gotham City Hall." The blond reporter spoke. "The Ohio and Florida results are in and Former Gotham University Professor Harold Johnson has won the 2016 Presidential Election. Despite some states still not reporting their results, the winning of both swing states pushes Johnson's electoral tally over 270 votes. Plus with multiple strong states still outstanding, pundits are saying his tally could go over 390 votes for the first time since 1988. Many political experts are calling this win a massive victory for the independent party. Others are saying this win could put an end to the two-party system as we know it. This is the first time a candidate from a third party has won the Presidential race as well as massive majorities in Congress in U.S. history. With an independent controlled Congress, it gives the President a huge mandate to make some major changes."

Meanwhile in the main shopping center people were finishing off their shopping night about to head home when suddenly…  
All the large screens in the city suddenly went static. Everyone stopped and looked up wondering what was wrong. Suddenly, a cloaked figure with yellow eyes appeared on every screen.

" _ **Gotham."**_ It spoke. _**"This is your only warning; for I will unleash your greatest fears. Tonight, is the beginning of the end of your dear city."  
**_ Screams went up, and people started running in terror.

* * *

 _Gotham General Hospital  
_  
"Push Ms. Isley!" A doctor yelled.  
"I'M TRYING GOD DAMN IT!" Pam screamed out.  
James noticed his hand was hurting massively. But he knew that was because Pam was holding it so tight.  
" _Come on…"_ He thought. _"Healthy baby come on…"  
_ Pam screamed again, but James then heard another sound.

It was a baby's cry.

Looking, he saw the doctors pull out a baby that was crying and fussing about.  
A tear ran down James's eye. _"Scan."  
_ " _Female."_ Alcor said. _"7.5 lbs., no diseases or genetic deficiencies. Perfectly healthy."  
_ James clapped his hands together. Pam looked at him weakly.  
He smiled at her. "Perfectly healthy baby girl."  
Tears started to run down her eyes. "Thank heavens."

As James waited outside while the doctors washed the newborn child (Jaime), he looked up at the TV and was watching some political news.

"In accordance with the new Congress…" New Senate Majority Leader Alyssa Beck started. "We are here to succeed where both parties have failed. With our new majority, we plan to push this country forward into the future."  
With independents controlling an astounding 67 of the 100 seats in the Senate and 333 of the 435 seats in the House, both the Democrats and Republicans are left weakened and battered. Only 16 Democrats and 17 Republicans are left in the Senate as well as only 50 Democrats and 52 Republicans in the House, both parties are now forced to confront a difficult truth—"  
Suddenly the transmission cut out.

"What the!?" James stood up, staring at the screen. The next moment, Scarecrow's face appeared.

" _ **Gotham."**_ He spoke. _**"This is your only warning; for I will unleash your greatest fears. Tonight, is the beginning of the end of your dear city."  
**_ He quickly took out his Ari1 and phoned in Joe.  
"Are you seeing this?" He asked.  
"Unfortunately." Joe nodded. "This is bad; really bad. How's the baby?"  
"Perfectly healthy." James said quickly. "Look, we've got to—"  
Suddenly, another call came in. He quickly added Batman to the line.  
"James." He spoke. "I'm guessing the both of you have seen his message?"

"Yes." They said together.

"Then you know he's not bluffing." Batman said. "By the looks of it, he's planning to unleash a deadly nerve toxin that will cover Gotham City completely. The both of you need to either get to higher grounds soon or get out of the city altogether."  
"Don't worry." Joe cut in. "Our base has higher levels that towers over the city. If the nerve toxin does get released, we should be able to avoid it just fine."  
"Be careful James." Batman said. "Scarecrow is not the only threat that is now apparent. I—"

He suddenly went silent.

"Batman?" James called. "BATMAN!"  
"James!" Batman replied. "Get out of that hospital now! They're looking for you!"  
"W-who's looking for me!?" He called back. "Who!?"  
"Get off the line and get out of there!" He said. Just then the line went dead.  
"Joe? Batman!" James yelled.  
Suddenly, he heard screaming coming from the main lobby. Switching to Nightshroud, he bolted to the front desk. Bullets were suddenly whizzing past him as he saw nurses and doctors being gunned down by…  
"What the!?" He gasped. The young warrior quickly noticed that the soldiers were clad in red and black. Just then, all the soldiers turned their guns on him.

He quickly blasted the ceiling and collapsed the floor. The debris struck the soldiers in front of him and sent them to the ground.  
Nightshroud quickly flew at full speed to Pam's room.  
He blasted the door open. "PAM! WE GOTTA GO!"  
The doctors inside gasped. "What is going on!?"

"James what is happening out there!?" Pam asked urgently.

"A bunch of unknown soldiers are shooting up the place!" He said quickly. "We gotta get out of here!"

 **I know some people are going to be put off by me summarizing Arkham City's plot so quickly. I apologize profusely! But I wanted to include a piece of the arc into the story because they all fit into the grand scheme of things. The problem is they aren't the central points of the events. Well...they sort of are...but I cannot reveal that yet! But one thing to know is this: There are THREE chapters left! Hang on tight! Things are about to get even more crazy!**


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Dark Times

Nightshroud conjured up a large forcefield that surrounded that room. Everyone suddenly heard cracks and creaks throughout the room.  
" _Separation complete!"_ Alcor announced. _"Go!"  
_ His hands clenched, and the room broke apart from the hospital. The doctors and nurses stumbled and grabbed onto something nailed down to stay standing.  
"Sorry!" He announced. "But everyone was in danger. I had to do something."  
The scared workers nodded as the room conjured in the Solarium field flew far away from the now burning hospital.  
" _Gotham Central Hospital stands no chance."_ Alcor said. _"If it is NOS, why would they attack a hospital? I know they were after you but why out in the open? Are they that confident?"  
_ "Is…is it them?" Pam asked weakly.

The baby Jaime started to fuss as she was not used to being outside.

"Sorry again." James pumped some more Solarium into the barrier, increasing its temperature. Jaime soon settled down as they got closer to Gotham General Hospital.  
James floated the room down in front of the hospital as the barrier disappeared. _"You'll be okay Jaime. I'll protect you."_  
"Go tell them what has happened." He ordered. "Roll Pamela with you."  
Pam still weak from giving birth, could do little but nod in agreement.  
"Don't worry." He knelt down next to her. "I'll find out later what's happening, and you'll be fine."  
"I trust you." She nodded weakly. "Now go help your friends."  
"I can't." James shook his head. "I need to be here for you and—"  
"No." Pam interrupted. "Batman and the others are going…to need your help in stopping…Scarecrow. "I'll be fine."  
"Are you sure?" James took her hand in his.  
She gave him a weak smile and nodded slowly.  
The young fighter paused for a moment, then nodded back. Backing off, he watched as the bed was wheeled away by the nurses into the hospital. After they disappeared, James as Nightshroud took off towards the Batcave.

" _It's most definitely NOS."_ He thought. _"But at the same time is Scarecrow's announcement? Too suspicious."  
_ " _Still it's not his style to not be the head honcho of whatever bad things are happening."_ Alcor said.  
" _True."  
_ He could see the familiar Wayne Manor appear in the distance as the Batcave's hangar opened. He flew through the large tunnel and settled down next to the Batmobile where he could see Bruce as Batman with Max in front of the supercomputer.  
"Is she safe?" He asked.  
James nodded. "I moved her to Gotham General Hospital. It's very close to our headquarters and if Scarecrow sets his plan in motion at any time we can move her again if need be."  
"Good." Batman responded. "I am not liking the outlook on Gotham right now. After the Joker's death, all the other villains have been silent. Scarecrow is the first one to act up."  
James knelt down to Max's level. "Hey buddy."  
The little boy looked at him before sitting down and turning away.

He sighed. _"I'm sorry Max…But they can't know about you…"  
_ Just then, the Batcave opened and Robin ran in.  
"Bruce!" He called. "Things are bad. People are running in terror, the police are all over the city trying to keep calm, and criminals are starting to loot the place!"  
Suddenly, the Batcave opened again and Batgirl ran in.  
"This is insane!" She cried out. "The city is in complete upheaval since the Scarecrow's speech! We need to evac—"  
"Commissioner Gordon is already mobilizing the entire police force." Bruce interrupted. "Evacuation has already begun. That's not the problem."  
"The problem is why Scarecrow decides to warn everybody about when he's going to unleash his toxin." James said. "I mean, if he wants to hurt as many people as he wanted, why not just surprise everyone and unleash it now?"  
Bruce nodded. "Barbara, I'm going to need your eyes everywhere. Go to the clock tower hideout, you know what to do."  
She nodded and left.  
"James, take your team and go after NOS." Bruce ordered. "Robin and I will hunt down Scarecrow. I have a feeling there's more to this than just coincidence."

He nodded. "I'll set out immediately."

* * *

James as Nightshroud flew high into the sky and activated his mask.  
" _What are we searching for_?" Alcor asked.  
"The Watchtower." He answered. "I know Bruce doesn't like it when the League gets involved with Gotham, but right now this is a huge catastrophe waiting to happen. We could use all the help we could get."  
" _Agreed. I'm increasing the power of the tracker and…wait a minute…this cannot be correct…the Watchtower is gone!"  
_ "What!?" Nightshroud exclaimed. "That's not possible! It's always a Justice League base that floats near Earth's atmosphere! How could it be gone!?"  
" _I cannot determine its location."_ Alcor confirmed. " _No debris can be located. Judging by the lack of evidence, it doesn't look like it has been destroyed. Just missing."  
_ "This is bad." Nightshroud said, worried. "If the Justice League have disappeared, then that means it's just us."  
"Not good." Joe said. "I'm currently looking into the International Space Station's live stream camera. "I'm going to try to pull up the last few hours of videos to see if we can find anything."

By now James had flown back to the old Ace Chemicals hideout where Joe and Abigail were working together. George and Georgina were moving their families out of the city and would not return for a while. By now, all 6 million residents of Gotham City had evacuated through the subways, airlines, and buses that lead to nearby cities and states.  
"That can't be a coincidence either." Abigail added. "Scarecrow's fear driven message and then the Watchtower vanishing? Come on that's a blatant connection there."  
"If this is NOS, that means they have access to far more advanced and dangerous technology then we thought." James concluded. "There has to be other heroes that were still on Earth when it disappeared!"  
"Even if there were, we don't have time to look for them." Joe shook his head. "It sounds like tonight is the night in which Scarecrow sets his plan in motion. We're going to have to contain him and NOS. So for now while Batman and Co. deal with Scarecrow, we'll go after NOS."

They both nodded. "Where do we start?" Abigail asked.  
"With Gotham General Hospital accessible through the 7th Floor hallways, Pamela Isley will be safe." Joe started. "As for NOS…I unfortunately have no leads. This is a very secret organization who despite Hanna making progress earlier, have now been able to mask their members much better now."  
"Damn!" James barked, frustrated. "This sucks! Had it not been for this crazy crap happening now, I would've had more time to cover and volunteer for the elec-!"  
He suddenly stopped. _"The 2016 election…"_

Joe and Abigail's eyes widened.

"We missed something…" Joe said in realization. " _Three_ things happened tonight!"  
"Scarecrow's message…" Abigail started.  
"The Watchtower missing…" James added.  
"And the ELECTION!" Joe yelled out.  
The young genius spun his chair around and started typing madly while James and Abigail huddled around him.  
"This was a historic election…" Joe said.  
"The last time a third party had won a decisive victory was never." James added. "Not since the 1800s did we have a third party competing and getting results at this high a level."  
"The Independent Party annihilated the two main parties on ALL THREE levels!" Joe gasped.  
"The Local, State, and Federal level." Abigail said. "According to the news outlets, they had outspent BOTH Democrats and Republicans by large margins! All of these interest groups and political action organizations had poured billions into the Independent Party efforts."  
"They were operating in plain sight and we failed to realize it..." Joe spat out angrily.

James turned away from the screen and looked down at the ground.

" _It's not difficult to decipher how they won supermajorities at all three levels of government."_ Alcor said. _"At a time like now where many voters are disillusioned with the two-party system, with this third party emerging as a force in American Politics? It's a dream scenario. With a new group, and a new candidate, comes a new beginning? Perhaps the people thought this would be the drive to throw out the old guard and replace it with a new age?"  
_ "Wait a minute…" James turned back to his friends. "Look up President Johnson's campaign slogan."  
"Don't need to." Abigail said. "I interned for his campaign back in the summer. It was 'A new hope, a new day, and a new beginning."  
Her eyes suddenly widened. "No…"  
"NOS was right in front of us all this time…" Joe said slowly. "Do you think it's possible that—"

Suddenly, the base shook violently. James switched to Nightshroud.

"James!" Suddenly Robin came on screen.  
"What's going on!?" He called back.  
"The new Ace Chemicals factory is about to collapse!" He yelled out desperately. "THE TOXIN IS ABOUT TO BE RELEASED!"  
"Shit!" James as Nightshroud suddenly flew as fast as he can towards the exit.  
"GET TO HIGHER FLOORS NOW!" He called after them.  
Nightshroud crashed through the Gotham General Hospital entrance and flew to the remaining doctors and nurses that stayed behind.  
"Get to the roof!" He ordered. "The toxin is about to be released!"  
All the doctors and patients were quickly rushed upstairs.  
" _Nightrider has been dispatched."_ Alcor announced. "It'll be on the hospital roof at any moment. Pamela Isley has been reported on the top floor being moved to the roof now."  
"I'm getting her out of the city." James decided. "It's becoming too—"

BOOM.

Flying out of the hospital and over the city, he could see the new Ace Chemicals building collapse and release a brown smoke that started to spread rapidly. Gritting his teeth, he looked at the roof of Gotham General Hospital.  
Luckily, Nightrider had already arrived and had picked up all the remaining people and Pam from the hospital. He saw the large ship rise high into the sky and take off.  
" _Destination: Boston Central Hospital."_ Alcor said.  
" _Good."_ James nodded. _"I'm glad they made it out."  
_ Turning back to the rest of the city, he could see criminals and thugs on the ground looting and fighting. However he also noticed the brown toxin suddenly stop and retreat back into the ruins of the factory.

" _What the…?"  
_ "James." Robin and Joe radioed in.  
"Guys! Are you all alright?"  
"We're fine here." Joe said. "Abigail and I have evacuated to the 50th floor of the base. We can see you floating not too far from us."  
James looked and saw Joe and Abigail waving at him from the window.  
Giving them thumbs up, James flew higher into the air.  
"Tell me what is going on Tim." He finally demanded.  
"Batman has found Scarecrow but he's escaped! He managed to stop the toxin from escaping but Barbara is gone!"  
He gasped in horror. "WHAT!? What happened in there!?"  
"I don't know!" Robin exclaimed desperately. "But these red and black soldiers seem to be on Scarecrow's side!"

" _His own private army?"_ Alcor asked, confused. _"That's not his style."  
_ " _No it's not."_ James thought. _"But there is a first time for everything…"  
_ Abigail growled angrily over the line. "This is nuts! How are we supposed to keep up with all of this!?"  
"I don't know. But I'm going after Barbara." James said finally. "I need to—"  
Suddenly, Batman appeared on the line coughing and panting.  
"Batman!" James cried out. "What happened to you!?"  
"I…have this handled." He breathed. "Do your mission! I'm going…to rescue…her…"  
"You're not well!" James insisted. "I need to—"  
"Wait James." Robin interrupted. "Let us rescue her. You need to find out about NOS."

"But-!"

"Now." Batman demanded.  
Swearing under his breath, James nodded and Robin hung up.  
"He's unfortunately right." Joe said. "Let them rescue her. We have bigger problems now. Luckily the toxin has not been released and we still have some more time. Batman has sent me some of his files and apparently a device called 'Cloudburst' uses the toxin. It is a mass dispersal device for the fear toxin. A man named Simon Stagg created it. Apparently he is a businessman and wanted to make a large profit off of the device. Regardless, it looks like he's out of commission and Scarecrow is now in possession of it. I'm going to keep analyzing this for now. Abigail will take over for me and help you out.  
"Okay." James replied. "For now we need to dig up evidence that links Howard Johnson to NOS."  
" _All we need is to find the tattoo."_ Alcor said. _"All NOS members must have it on them so he definitely has it."_

"Alright then." He nodded. "Time to go meet the future President of the United States."


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Vision

"Professor Johnson!" Vicki Vale stuck her microphone out. "Can you tell us what your plans are for your first term?"  
"Plenty will be discussed this week Vicki." Johnson said. "With our new majority leaders in the House and Senate, we can immediately get the ball rolling."  
Professor Johnson stood in the middle of the large conference room at City Hall where a victory party was being held for his impending presidency. The press and supporters surrounded the future President as people cheered his name.  
"Jack Ryder of the Jack Ryder show!" A man in glasses spoke up. "What do you plan to do on your first day of the Presidency?"  
"Move in." He smiled, setting off a wave of laughter throughout the large room.  
James Davis walked into the room with a blue suit and tie on holding his Ari1. He looked and saw his sister Hanna was already there. He had procured a pin and modified the names.

" _Will Warren of the Gotham Gazette."_ He thought.  
" _Flashy."  
_ He walked up to his sister and tapped her on the shoulder. Turning around, she frowned.  
"Figured it out?" Hanna whispered.  
"Unfortunately."  
"No use thinking about it now." She said. "Let's meet our new President."  
They excused themselves through the crowd and got up close to Professor Johnson. They could see he was wearing a gray suit with a black dress shirt and grey tie.  
"Professor Johnson!" Hanna called out first. "Jessica Adams of the Daily Planet! Can you tell us the key to your tremendous victory?"  
"Certainly." He smiled at her. "When I declared my candidacy, I was given little to no chance by the media and pundits alike. I was running on an independent ticket, and most people were already assuming I would be out of the race by the end of the month. Unfortunately for them, I dug in and fought like all Americans have done when they faced great odds. I kept going, and people began to hear my message—"

" _Yeah, and drowned us all in money ads…"_ James thought.

"I traveled the country and listened to the people up close." Johnson continued. "We were a small party organization in the beginning. However as the months rolled on we began to expand, we raised more and more money, and grew our independent party until it was roughly the size of the two main parties."  
He paused for a moment, and then kept talking:  
"There is no doubt what helped us was that the two parties were having very messy primaries." Johnson nodded. "But being President means being strong and having a strong message for the people. I have a plan for the American people, and I know we can get this country moving forward."  
"Finally when the debates came, I had the one thing the other two candidates didn't: Honesty. I was adamant in my views and I did not practice by a teleprompter. I had had these ideas with me since I was a little boy. There would be no tricks or saying nothing. I firmly believed in everything I said, and the American people saw that. That is why I won."  
The room erupted into thunderous applause, with some people in tears.

James sighed. _"He knows how to work a crowd. Which means he's a lot smarter than we thought."  
_ " _I just don't understand how all he could be here with his supporters while Scarecrow is out there due to release his toxin at any moment."_ Alcor added. _"Unless…"  
_ " _This building is protected from the toxin?"_ James wondered. _"Yes I'm thinking that too. City hall is also very tall. We're on the 32_ _nd_ _floor, which means even if the toxin DID get  
out, none of them would be hurt.  
_"Professor Johnson!" James suddenly called out.  
The President-elect turned to face him.  
"Yes young man?" He asked.  
"Will Warren from the Gotham Gazette." James answered. "Can you tell us your plan for stopping Scarecrow in Gotham City? And will we be safe here in City Hall?"

He chuckled. "First off, I've been on the phone with the Secret Service and Commissioner Gordon already. They are doing everything they can to contain him. And second, yes we will be safe here in City hall. These walls are fitted with retrograde super-steel. The so-called toxin he plans to release cannot penetrate these walls."  
A few sighs of relief went through the crowd.  
"This is actually why I will be delaying my acceptance speech until this Scarecrow business blows over." He added. "I want to make sure we are all safe before we make any further actions."  
" _Why do I get the feeling he's lying about their safety?"_ Alcor asked.  
" _If he's now the President, he absolutely CANNOT get that wrong."_ James answered. _"If he escaped and left all these people to die, that would be a horrible start to his Presidency. Plus, he is right about the building. I'm guessing you've already studied it?"  
_ " _Yes."_ Alcor said. _"He is correct about the materials, but that wouldn't stop the toxin. However since we're pretty high up, the toxin wouldn't reach up here anyway."  
_ " _Good to know."_

"Now then!" Professor Johnson clapped his hands together. "Due to that villain's actions I took the liberty a few hours ago to have some extra food brought in. So in case we are trapped here for the moment, we will not starve to death."  
"One last question Professor Johnson!" Hanna spoke up. "What are your thoughts on the Batman?"  
Everybody froze and looked at the future President.  
He folded his arms. "I can understand his purpose of why he commits vigilantism. It's clear that he's just trying to protect the weak and innocent. However despite the seemingly chivalrous endeavor, I cannot accept a man dressing up as a bat and beating up criminals. That is the police's job to me. And if the police fail to do their job, then I would get new police. However that is not my job as President, that is left up to the city on whether they would want someone like the Batman to roam their alleyways."

" _Interestingly diplomatic response."_ James thought. _"He seemingly doesn't hate Batman, but he doesn't support him either. He's good at playing the PR man."  
_ " _Even more news. Look at his spine."_ Alcor pointed out.  
Stepping back into the crowd and focusing his Solarium, he peeked through his suit and saw it.  
" _The tattoo! There it is!"_ James spotted. _"It's very small, and planted right on where his spinal cord would be…"  
_ " _One hell of a place to have the NOS tattoo."_ Alcor suggested.  
" _What sucks is that we can't just jump in there blatantly and capture him on the spot, we don't know how high he ranks in NOS or whether he's high ranking at all."  
_ " _We'll need more evidence."_ Alcor agreed. _"For now, we wait."  
_

* * *

 _One hour later_

Nightshroud stood on top of Wayne International Plaza and pondered.  
" _How are we supposed to find out more about the most sought after man in the world?"_ He thought. _"Any luck on his history?"  
_ " _Very little information about him exists."_ Alcor said despondently. _"Howard Johnson: Professor of Political History at Gotham University, earned his Ph.D. at Columbia University, and was debate champion in 2004."  
_ " _Argh."_ He growled in frustration. " _I wonder if—"  
_ Suddenly a missile flew past his face. Flying back he looked down. A medium sized red and white military vehicle had pointed its missile launcher at him. Gritting his teeth, he dove down at high speed and crashed through it, blowing it up.  
Quickly flying high out of range of other vehicles, he cursed under his breath.

" _Where did Scarecrow find these guys!?"  
_ " _Good question, another mystery to solve."_ Alcor said.  
"James!" Leslie radioed in. "Those are long range militia tank Drones! Scarecrow has hundreds of them!"  
"Fuck." He swore. "There's way too many to fight right now, I'm flying higher!"  
"There's no need." She answered. "You just need to stay 1550 feet above the ground and they won't reach you."  
"Got it. Any news from Batman?" He asked as he flew higher into the air while dodging missiles.  
"No, but some from Robin." Abigail said. "Militia forces are dividing the city up by island. Be careful James, there are anti-aircraft guns and missile launchers throughout the city."  
"Keep me posted."  
"Wait James!" Abigail cried out fearfully. "Joe and I just found out something!"  
"What!?"  
"This is insane!" She answered. "Joe and I think that all of the candidates that won in the election are all part of NOS!"

James quickly landed on the roof of their base and quickly descended to the 50th floor.  
"You can't be serious!" He yelled out as he entered. "You're telling me that _hundreds_ of NOS members have infiltrated the government!?"  
"It seems so." Joe turned to him soberly. "2016 was a realigning election. Normally only 33 Senate seats are up for grabs every two years. But this year there was a mass of special elections that took place last night. Some lawmakers dying in office, retiring, scandals, you name it. By the time election night came, 80 Senate seats were up for election! Plus, with all 435 seats in the House always up for grabs, it was too easy for them!"  
"This is bad." He groaned. "67 NOS members in the Senate, 333 NOS members in the House, and a President who is also an NOS member, this country is now under their control!"  
"You're telling me." Abigail nodded. "With the U.S. under their control, they could influence activities all around the world whether it's the Middle East, Europe, or China relations. God knows what their plans are."

Suddenly, one of the 50th floor windows exploded open, and Max climbed through coughing.  
"MAX!" James quickly ran over to him and caught him before he fell. The child stopped coughing and looked into his eyes.  
"Are you alright?" He petted Max's hair.  
Suddenly, the child grabbed both of James's arms and yanked him forward.  
" _What the-?"  
_ Max opened his mouth, and brown smoke billowed out into his face.  
" _SHIT! It's the toxin!"_ Alcor yelled.

James coughed heavily and fell to one knee as Max fell down unconscious.  
"JAMES!" Both Joe and Abigail ran over to him.  
"GGGGRRAAAAHHHHH!" He grabbed his head and screamed.  
"NOOOO! PLEASE NOT THAT!"  
" _Your world will crumble."  
_ "STOP!"  
" _You should not have existed."  
_ "MY HEAD!"  
" _You should never have been born."  
_ "AAAAAAAHHHH!"

James as Nightshroud pushed Abigail and Joe off of him as he flew out the broken window and into the night.  
"JAMES! JAMES!" Abigail screamed out for him.  
"It's no use Abby." Joe said unhappily. "He's been infected by the toxin. It's a wonder he didn't kill us both."  
"Shut up!" Abigail turned to him angrily. "We have to help him!"  
Joe folded his arms. "And how are we supposed to do that?"  
"W-Well w-we…." She stopped. She had no idea how they could.  
"If we can get him back here then yeah we can help him." Joe said. "I can activate the base's deadlock system and we can trap him on the 50th floor, but until then—"  
Suddenly Max woke up and stuck his hands out at them. Tendrils of electricity came flowing out of his fingers as they were electrocuted.

"GAHHHHH!" Joe yelled.  
"AHHHHHH!" Abigail screamed.

After nearly a minute of electrocution, they fell to the ground unconscious. The little child shook his head, then walked over to the window and climbed out.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20: Broken

 _"He is infected."_  
 _"He shall learn."_  
 _"He will be punished."_  
 _"He will suffer."_  
 _"He will burn."_  
 _"He will die."_

James smashed through the windows of an office building still clutching his head in pain.  
"You cannot ignore me!" A voice yelled out.  
The young warrior opened his eyes. His vision refocused, but standing there was Nero.  
"Why hello again." He said sarcastically. "Didn't think you were rid of me that easily huh?"  
"You're…dead…" James mustered weakly.  
Nero chuckled. "As long as you're alive, I'm alive. Remember I was created from you; essentially, I am you."  
James jumped up and slashed the dark warrior's chest, but sliced only air as his attack phased through him.  
"Yeah…that's the toxin for you." Nero sat down on a desk. "Seeing things that aren't there. Kinda like how you thought you could live a happy, normal life but instead can't see the reality in front of him."

Enraged, James fired a Solarium blast that went through Nero's face.

"Still denying it?" The dark warrior chuckled. "Like it matters. The toxin is slowly driving you insane anyway. It won't be long before you're pretty much like me again. Although to be fair, you've gotten much more powerful since that day. So you'll probably become something even more terrifying. Exciting for me though! I get to see it up close!"  
James gritted his teeth in pain. His head was still exploding with pain, and he could see his own veins on his wrists pressing against his skin.  
"I'm impressed though." Nero muttered. "Apparently most people lose their grip on reality a lot faster."  
"I gotta…find…them…"  
"Oh you mean NOS?" Nero asked. "Yeah they are sort of scary huh? Blowing through the American Political red tape like it was tissue. If they weren't so 'nuts' I guess it'd be awesome. I mean a new political movement that has all that massive support? We're looking at a new era in national politics. God I wish I were a part of it you know? I would've liked to feel important and accomplished that I succeeded in making the world a better place. But fuck it. At least those crazy shitheads down in the South aren't the ones making the changes anymore."

"S-shut up…" James wheezed. "It's not like…that."

"Are you serious!? It's COMPLETELY like that!" Nero knelt down and locked eyes with his adversary. "And don't try to argue with me, you know you agree. Aren't you sick of some dumbass from another part of the country dictating shit they haven't got a clue on? That's why you came to Gotham City, to study with the intellectuals that actually know how to govern. Not like those hicks that fuck their sister and shoot any fucker that doesn't look like them."  
"I-I'm NOT like that!"  
"Admit it! Yes you are!" Nero yelled. "I am YOU remember? All of this is in YOUR head! You've known all this time that those powers you received were _begging_ to be abused. You wanted to use your powers to punish the idiots in Washington. You WANTED to fly into the Senate or House building, hide in someone's shadow and change his or her votes. Imagine the possibilities! You manipulate a vote here or there, get a bill passed, modify someone's campaign money, cause a scandal, you can do ALL of that! You know you want to."  
James slowly stood up. "Never."

"Oh stop trying to be the Boy Scout!" Nero shook his head. "You were NEVER the boy scout! You fought on the streets, you got into fights at school granted it mostly wasn't your doing, but you enjoyed the conflict. You loved it when you won. Despite you seemingly lacking confidence and high self-esteem before, you loved winning, AND you loved it when people listened to you like a leader. You still do."  
"Enough of this shit." James coughed. "I need to—"  
Suddenly, the office building shook violently, forcing him to the ground.

" _James! James!"_ Alcor called in his head. " _Are you alright?"  
_ " _Oh hello there Alcor."_ Nero's voice suddenly filled his head.  
" _W-what!? YOU!"  
_ "ENOUGH!" James yelled out, struggling to stand. "A-Alcor what's happening…?"  
"The Cloudburst has activated."

"NO!"

James as Nightshroud flew high into the city and saw it. The brown toxin that he breathed in had now spread across the city. All the stores and attractions at street level had completely disappeared under the thick cloud of toxin.  
" _Holy fuck that is big."  
_ " _Get out of James's head!"_ Alcor demanded.  
" _Not happening buddy. It's cozy in here."  
_ "Will you both cut it out!?" James cut in, frustrated. "I need to plan out my next move."

"James…"

Suddenly, Pamela Isley's voice flooded the COM link.  
"PAM!" James yelled out. "What are you doing? You should be out of the city!"  
"Max…has been captured."  
Gasping, James was speechless.  
"H-how!?" He exclaimed. "I thought he was back at Wayne Manor!"  
"I received word from Batman that it might've been Cadmus." She said weakly. "NOS has found him James."  
"No…NO!"  
"I'm going…to go rescue him…"  
"Pam no!" James cried out. "You're still weak from giving birth! You need to take care of Jaime!"  
"George and Georgina are here with me." Pam continued. "They're going to watch over her for now."  
"W-what!? They're with you!?"  
"Don't worry James." She said. "I'll save Max, and the city."  
"Wait Pam just listen to me-!"

The line went dead. Swearing, he tracked the signal to the main Gotham shopping area. Flying there as fast as he can, he felt confusion.  
" _I just saw Max!"_ James exclaimed. " _How could NOS have captured him!? He was in our base!"  
_ " _Maybe they sent him to you to get infected."  
_ " _Or Max just felt like a visit. You never know."  
_ " _Will you shut up!?"_ Alcor asked. _"You aren't real!"  
_ " _You seem to be talking to me like I am."_ Nero quipped. _"Besides, both of you and I are both suspicious right? Maybe Max is evil."  
_ " _Bullshit."_ Alcor spat. _"Max was created to defeat James as Nightshroud but he found his own way. It's not like they'd want him to escape the lab and find his way to him without precautions."  
_ " _Kids these days you know_?" Nero joked. _"No respect for their peers."  
_ Rolling his eyes, James continued to fly until he saw the shopping area completely covered in toxin. But positioned just over the cloud of toxin on Wayne tower was Max all tied up.

"MAX!" James as Nightshroud quickly flew towards him, only for a laser blast to fly past him.  
He looked. Hundreds of drones had locked onto him and he was now frozen.  
" _Shit…"  
_ He then saw something moving underneath the toxic cloud. The street suddenly burst open and a large tree started to push up through the gravel and over the toxic cloud. He watched it rise high above him as it knocked over some of the drones on the ground. The branches stretched through multiple buildings as windows were shattered to accommodate the massive plant. Soon it had stopped growing, and James marveled at its size.

" _That's gotta be the biggest tree I've ever seen…"_

Just then the Batmobile crashed through a building behind him and settled on top of the roof. The militia tanks opened fire, but they were blocked by the toxin cloud and could not see him.  
James took that momentary pause to fly at full speed behind the Batmobile. He saw the cockpit open and Batman with Pam emerged.  
"Pam what are you doing!?" James took her hands.  
"I'm fine James." She nodded, hugging him. "I stopped by my greenhouse and cured myself of my morning sickness. I'm back to full strength now."  
"That's good, but where did you find that tree!?" James looked over the square.  
"It's an ancient tree that's existed before the city was built." Batman answered. "There's no time to explain. You know what to do."

Pam nodded and the ancient tree stretched out its roots over the building, creating a bridge to cross. She slowly started to walk across when James grabbed her arm.  
"Pam what are you planning to do!?"  
"I'm going to release the pollen inside this tree and remove the toxin." She said. "Don't worry I'll be fine."  
" _I call bullshit!"  
_ " _Shut up!"  
_ "Wish me luck." Pam kissed James before traversing into the tree.  
"Batman! She'll be fine right?" He turned to him.  
The Dark Knight looked at him and did not answer.  
Horror took over his features. "No…NO PAM WAIT!"  
Too late, the tree trunk had closed behind her.

" _Told ya."  
_ " _I said shut up!"_

Pamela Isley stood inside Aiyana, the name of the ancient tree. She pressed her hands against the vines and they penetrated her skin. She groaned in pain but shook it off as the tree burst to life. Pam yelled out in pain as she forcefully injected more power into the roots as the toxin began to invade her body.  
She could see memories of Dr. Woodrue and his mistreatment of her, the first time she fought Batman, to being tortured by Hugo Strange…  
"NO!" Pam yelled out. "That isn't my life anymore!  
Suddenly images of James started to flood her mind. She yelled out in pain but kept the images coming. She remembered the first time they met fighting Batgirl, the night they spend in Arkham Asylum, their fight against Nero, their first real night together after defeating him, to fighting together on the streets of Gotham, to raising Max and finally giving birth to Jaime.

" _I love you…James Davis."  
_ James opened his eyes. He clenched his fists in fear.  
" _Pam…I hear you…I hear you!"  
_ " _Take care of Jaime and Max for me. And tell Abigail I'm sorry for hurting her."  
_ " _No Pam! Please don't go!"  
_ " _Goodbye…"_

Just then the ancient tree released a powerful shockwave of pollen. Looking around, he could see the toxin dissipating around the city as small bright balls of pollen floated around him and every other object in the city. Soon he could see the ground as the toxin became clearer. Breathing in, he could feel his headache dulling before finally stopping.  
The tree then opened up and Pam stood there, skin blackened by the toxin and the power she forcibly drew on. James flew at full speed and caught her before she fell.  
He looked around and saw the toxin dissolving from the streets. White flakes floated around him as tears formed in his eyes.  
"Nature…always…wins." Pam smiled at him one last time.  
"No…" James saw her body began to break up into pollen pieces. Soon her body had disappeared entirely, leaving nothing but his hands.

He fell to his knees. "S-she's gone…for good…"  
The young warrior's eyes spilled hot tears into the roots of Aiyana.  
" _Pamela Lillian Isley. A woman like no other."  
_ He slowly looked across the street to the building where Batman stood. He stayed there and stared at him, and then jumped into his Batmobile and drove off. A flurry of emotions flooded his body.

" _Damn man that's harsh."_ Nero spoke. _"The guy mentors you and then sends your precious one to die that's—"  
_ " _Shut the fuck up."_ James growled.  
" _Hey I won't be here for much longer."_ Nero muttered. _"The toxin is being removed from your body thanks to your girlfriend. So be happy."  
_ James looked down at the street, where the militia tanks had disappeared. He then looked up at Max, who was unmoving in the ropes.  
He slowly stretched his hand out, and yanked backwards. Max flew out of the ropes right at him.

" _She never knew…"_ Alcor said sadly. _"I realize what he is now…"  
_ " _As do I…"_

Just as Max was about to land in front of him, James fired a Solarium blast into the child's chest and sent him flying into the wall. The child cried out in pain and slid to the floor.  
James as Nightshroud slammed to the ground in front of him.  
"You…lied to me." He gritted his teeth, eyes turning red. "You aren't a child. You aren't innocent. You CAN talk. You're the one who caused all of this. ISN'T IT!?"  
He shouted the last part at the boy. Max shook in fear for a few moments, and then stood up.  
"All this time you've been spying on us." James growled. "How convenient is it that the boy who escaped from Cadmus could not speak? An experiment to create a super soldier from scratch for war? Please. That's far too obvious to go unnoticed by the League or anyone else for that matter. They may not trust the Justice League, but I do know that they have conducted experiments from living samples first before starting anew. Also, while it's true they have done plenty of experiments, injecting the blood of Nora Fries AND Harley Quinn into this boy? It made no sense! Their blood is different! If you were to mix two blood types like that they would reject each other and the person would die! So why then? Was it a trap to lure me in for my curiosity? Or something else?

"Well done James Davis." Max spoke.

Just then Max slammed the wall with his hands and James flew back, crashing into the wall opposite him.  
"So you figured it out." The child walked towards him slowly. "What gave it awa—?"  
Suddenly a red Solarium blast struck Max in the chest. Sending him flying back into the wall.  
"You didn't escape Cadmus all those months ago." James stood up. "NOS _let_ you leave. Project Cadmus had no idea of what they were doing, so they panicked. But it explains why Cadmus never came after me. They never tried to get him back, and Lex Luthor does not count."  
Max groaned and slowly stood up. He had transformed. The child was no longer little; he had changed into an older man.  
"So you suspected from back then." Max said. "Congrats. Too bad Pamela Isley didn't know."

As he was talking, a fist slammed hard into his face breaking his cheekbone and knocking him down.

Just then, hundreds of militia tanks surrounded him.  
" _That won't work anymore…"  
_ James unleashed a fury of shockwaves that leveled every building nearby. All the militia tanks were swept up by the shockwave and blown up.  
He then grabbed Max from under the wreckage and pinned him to the wall.  
"What…is…your…real…name!?" James demanded.  
"Ma—"  
James's right hand suddenly tore through Max's spleen, emitting a scream of pain from the older man.  
"A NAME!"  
"Kevin...Johnson...Astaroth..."  
" _Johnson!?"_ Alcor exclaimed. _"Howard Johnson's son!?"_

" _Astaroth?_ _"_ James asked. _"This is bad. I'm sensing insane amounts of energy from him. He's a powerful metahuman AND he's playing with me. He knows he's more powerful than me and yet he's acting weak."_

James slowly released him. He started to shuffle backwards as a psychotic grin came to Astaroth's face.  
"Do you see it now?" He spoke as a red mist began to envelop him. "You cannot do anything. You think we control just the U.S.? WRONG! We control the world! And it's all thanks to my father and me! They love him like a God, and I can influence them all. That is my power. The power of control!"  
Soon the mist had vanished, and standing in front of him was a black and red suited man whose eyes were black and pupils red. His face was covered in sacrilegious symbols with fangs for teeth.  
"I thought so." James spoke. "Then I should end this now!"  
He suddenly flew forward at full speed and phased into the Demon's shadow.  
"W-what are you doing!?" He yelled.  
"ARRGHH! AH!"  
James was then knocked out of the shadow and sprawled on the ground.  
Red Demon burst out laughing. "Ha! You need to do better than that!"  
"The main head honchos of NOS…" He muttered. "The President, the Vice-President, and the Majority leaders all elected this term…"  
"Ah so are smarter than you look. Congrats!" Red Demon chuckled. "But it doesn't matter now. The new term begins January 1, 2017!"

James took off as fast as he could into the air towards city hall as he heard Kevin Johnson's psychotic laughs behind him.  
" _I'm sorry Alcor. You know what my plan is now."  
_ " _Do what you need to do."_ Alcor answered.  
"James!" Abigail radioed in. "Are you alright!?"  
"Abby!" James answered. "Where have you and Joe been?"  
"It's Max!" Joe cut in. "He subdued us with some kind of lightening! James, Max is—"  
"I know." James said. "Max is actually Kevin Johnson, the President's son."  
He relayed everything he learned including the truth about Max, Pam's death, and his plan.

"James…" Abby said. "Are…you sure?"  
"Yes." He nodded. "The toxin is out of my body, so I am thinking clearly. But I have to do this."  
He heard both of them gulp.  
"Do it." They said.  
He could see City Hall in the distance loom large over him.

" _Both the new Executive and Legislative Branches are on the top floor."_ Alcor reported. " _All 502 accounted for. No innocents."  
_ " _Good."_

 _"The Son will end it."_  
 _"The New World Order has come."_  
 _"The Batman will fall."_  
 _"The warrior will follow."_  
 _"The world is ours."_  
 _"We will bring—"_

Suddenly, the 66th floor windows crashed open. The NOS members looked and saw Nightshroud standing there. They could see his suit was ripped and torn in many places. Bloodstains were all over him.

"It is him!"  
"He must be stopped!"  
Gritting his teeth, Nightshroud raised his arms and red barriers closed off the windows and the doors, locking them inside.  
"Hello Mr. President." He spoke, looking up at the man behind podium in front of the room.  
Howard Johnson stood staring him down.  
"Well, well, well." He replied. "You finally figured it out. A token of congratulations should be in—"  
Just then a fist slammed into his face, knocking him into the back wall.

All the NOS members quickly converged on him. Bullets whizzed through the air as Nightshroud punched and kicked everyone he saw.

"YOU DESTROYED MY FAMILY!"

He fired a red beam into a crowd of NOS members, blasting them into the walls.

"YOU TOOK MY SISTER!"

He slammed down on the ground with his fist, rattling the room and blowing up the large screen TV.

"YOU HURT MY FRIENDS!"

Nightshroud grabbed the large conference table and hurled it at the President, who jumped away. The table slammed into another group of NOS members and killed them instantly.

"YOU KILLED PAM!"

He blasted the lights, setting the room on fire.

" _This is incorrect!"  
_ " _He lives!"  
_ " _He cannot be stopped!"_

"YOU RUINED MY LIFE!"

Nightshroud, bloody and battered raised his hands into the air and released a powerful shockwave of red Solarium. The room exploded, but with the Solarium holding everything together, the energy released from the explosion doubled back and wiped out the remaining NOS members that were still alive.  
City hall continued to burn when he finally stopped. Hearing shuffling behind him, he turned to see the President still standing, but battered.

He paused for a moment before locking eyes with him. The new leader of the free world surveyed the college kid in front of him.  
Blood was dripping down his hands and onto his knees, which also had deep wounds in them. His chest area had a large gash in the middle, and his face was battered and bruised with blood dripping from his mouth and off of his fangs. He looked like Dracula after a large feeding.  
"I never thought you had it in you." Johnson said without emotion, standing up and walking to the podium.  
"Why not? You did ruin my life." Nightshroud responded.

"True enough." President Johnson stepped away from the podium and walked in front of him.

"So what do you want? Money? Power? Sex? I can give you all of that and more." He spoke, stepping over the blood of his NOS brethren.  
Just then the Solarium barriers went down.  
"Ah so now we're getting somewhere AH!"  
Nightshroud grabbed him by the neck and lifted him up. He turned and walked toward the windows.  
"I only want one thing." He whispered. Then he chuckled.  
Suddenly, Hanna as Lana burst into the office. Looking at the scene in front of her, she stared down into the eyes of her little brother.  
"Stop this now." Lana demanded.  
"That's ironic coming from you." Nightshroud shot back.  
"Please…let me do it. I can't let you-"  
"ENOUGH!" Nightshroud shouted. "Stop protecting me! This man ruined my life. He knew all about me and destroyed it. Mom and Dad will stop protecting me and so will you!"

"Do you want this man's life on your conscience James?"

He stopped and stared deep into President Johnson's eyes. The fearful man stared back, but he suddenly saw a glint flash across his eyes for just a moment. He then knew what he had to do.

"Yes."

Suddenly, the roof of the council room exploded upwards. Hanna looked around surprised as James blasted Hanna in the face with Solarium, knocking her out.

* * *

"This is Vicki Vale reporting live from City Hall!" The blond haired journalist spoke. "We've just received word that President-elect Howard Johnson is being threatened by an unknown assailant. According to our sources, the assailant had broken into the 66th floor building—Oh my god!"  
Johnson supporters spilled out onto the street. Some of them screamed while others pointed at what they were witnessing.  
Nightshroud stood at the edge of the large opening to where he had blasted to the outside.  
He held the President-elect over the gap and in view of the screaming supporters.  
Finally, he opened his mouth and spoke:

" _Nightshroud no more."_

He raised his right hand and plunged it through the President's heart. People screamed in terror as Howard Johnson sputtered out blood and finally hung lifeless in his hands.  
James Davis held the President's body and let go. The body fell 66 stories and slammed into the ground, spewing blood everywhere.  
James then picked up the unconscious Lana and flew off to a nearby building where he settled her hidden in the shadows. He then turned and watched City Hall get engulfed by the flames.  
" _I'm done being the hero."_ James thought. _"I'm done with these people. I'm done with trying to save them. It's over."  
_

* * *

Adam and Linda Davis watched the events unfolding with equal horror.

" _No James…stop…"_ He pleaded in his mind.  
" _My little boy…"_ Linda thought sadly as a tear ran down her face.  
Just then, a note slid under the door. Adam quickly ran over to it and opened the letter.

" _Dear Mom and Dad,"_

" _I'm sorry that you had to see what had transpired at city hall. But I had no choice. This organization has been ruining our lives for many years and I could not stand by and watch them destroy our family. I didn't want anyone else I loved to be hurt not while I have the power to save them. I don't expect you to look at me the same way ever again, but I was expecting that; but there is one thing that I never told you. For the past two years I have been seeing someone; she is or rather was the most special person in my life for a long time. You may have guessed it by now but her name is Pamela Isley, I hid our relationship from you because I did not think you would approve. But after all I've learned about you two and about my long lost sister, I realized that you probably wouldn't of minded as much as I thought. I don't know if this will be the last time that we are in contact with each other, but I do know or least I think I know that it'll be a long time before I'll be able to face you too again. I could not just let Hanna keep killing to protect me. It was the wrong way to do things and I am still furious that you planned things out this way. Although to be fair you're probably angrier with me then I am with you. And that's OK, because you have every right to be angry with me. Hopefully when you read this, NOS will be dead and gone. But I took all of the necessary precautions, and I will abandon my Nightshroud persona forever. I don't know what is going to happen next, but I do know that I've caused a lot of damage and will need to lay low for a while. I hope you understand, because right now I can barely think of a worse time like now. Goodbye."_

 _-James Davis_

 _P.S. once you read this letter destroy it. If anyone were to find this letter it would spell the end for all of us._

Adam and Linda Davis looked at each other, and then threw the letter into the fireplace. They watched silently as the letter curled up in the flames and turned to ash.

* * *

James Davis as Nightshroud looked up at the full moon for a few moments, and then spoke.

"Alcor, put the team on the line, we're leaving."

 _ **To be continued…**_

 **And that's that! Legacy of The Dark Knight: Arkham Chronicles is finished! Well to start off, this isn't where the story ends. There is one final story left to tell! Obviously there are several loose ends left to tie up, but there are still mysteries surrounding these characters as well as Batman. I have been focusing on this OC character and his friends for sometime. But the final story is going to shift focus to Batman and the Justice League from here on out. James Davis will still be a prominent player in this series, but I believe I've spent enough time with him as it is and have left other characters by the wayside. Regardless, this is a Batman story, and Batman will become the focal point of this whole series. You may not realize it yet, but all of the events that have transpired among these three stories revolve around the Dark Knight in some manner. Anyway I've spoken enough as it is. Coming up next: Legacy of the Dark Knight: Public Enemy**

 **Stay tuned!**


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